Dragon Quest Z
by ShadowMajin
Summary: AU.  One kingdom.  Four houses.  One lad that must rescue a not-so-distressing damsel while everything around him goes wrong.  And that's just a typical day.
1. In a Land Far, Far Away

Hello everyone! ShadowMajin is back with yet another fic, but this time I have company. Ms. Videl Son is helping me out with this story and we have a lot planned for you. And I do mean a lot. Not Onslaught-alot but definitely more than I originally planned for.

Some backstory. Back when I was first appearing on ffn with Survival of the Lamest, I had an idea for this story; a huge backstory of huge possibility that I completely forgot about it for the next couple of years. Then one day I started talking to MVS about this idea from so long ago and she went crazy about it. The next thing I know, we have a storyline planned and I'm wondering how the heck that happened. But now, after such a long wait, we bring to you Dragon Quest Z. One guess as to where the title comes from lol

Disclaimer: Neither I nor MVS own DBZ

And now, without further ado, here's the story. Enjoy.

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><p>Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, there was a land ruled by four houses: the Monkey House, the Turtle House, the Ribbon House, and the Demon House. In ancient times, each house had been at war, each trying to claim dominion over the others' lands. A time came when the leaders of each house came together and forged a peace that would end the strife. Each house would rule the kingdom for a time, giving up their reign for the next in line, and cycling over and over.<p>

For a time, all was well. But as the centuries wore on, inequality began to emerge between the four houses. Three of the houses were growing too powerful, putting the fourth at a great disadvantage. Ultimately the head of the Demon House came up with a plan to redress this dilemma, offering to oversee the redistribution of power between the houses. Marshalling his forces, he attempted to persuade the other houses that this was their best course of action.

…

The Head of the Demon House was a great man of great valor. He wanted nothing more than the continued peace and prosperity of the realm, no matter the cost to his own house. Though it would be some time to correct the ever-growing problem, it was suggested that he be the ruler of the kingdom for longer than was ordained. It was the only way to overcome the crisis.

Unfortunately, the other narrow-minded houses did not like this and united together in an unholy alliance against the magnificent Demon House. War broke out and the Demon House was eventually defeated by the combined might of the other three.

But defeat was not enough for their avaricious spirits. Upon victory, they stripped away the lands in which the Demon house was in control, dividing them amongst themselves as one would break bread between family, weakening the honorable house beyond recognition. With no land in their possession, the honor of the Demon House was slowly diminished over the years. But that was not enough for the other three houses. They demanded more tribute from the Demon people, taxing their resources and people to poverty.

…

This was an unfortunate turn of events. The people of the Demon lands used to be one of the wealthiest in the kingdom. The streets were made of golden bricks, the fountains pouring molten silver, free to anyone who wished to possess some. The people would smile at all who traveled into their villages, offering hospitality to all who asked. It was a prosperous land, but many envied that wealth.

…

It had been since the days of old that the other three houses looked on with envy at the prosperous Demon lands. So when they found an opportunity to harm the Demon House, they took it. With the Demon House facing ruin, they came up with a plot to return a small portion of the wealth that had been stolen from them.

To do this, a noble Demon was chosen to enter one of the other depraved Houses and remove one of its children. It was a sure way to regain the poor House's fortune and would have been successful had the act not been interrupted. A fight occurred, ending with the slaying and maiming of two prominent members of the Monkey House.

…

It has been four years since that failed operation. Due to the circumstances surrounding it, the Noble Demon-man had been forced to keep his burdensome charge, always on the move for fear of discovery and impending imprisonment. It is likely the Demon would be beheaded and burned at the stake to ensure that he not rise from the grave, though that is a superstition crafted by idiotic people who have nothing better to do with their time…

At every turn, the newly-forged companions evade danger and capture. Every day is a fight for survival, but the two persist, creating their own fortune as it comes to them.

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><p>"So what happened next?"<p>

Green hands clinched at the book's edges, crinkling the pages. A large vein pulsed on the green man's forehead, indicating his frustration with his young charge. The boy had yet to stop interrupting his story-telling and it was fraying the last of his nerves. If only his job description didn't include making sure the young boy was taken care of.

The green man was seated on the ground, his legs crossed beneath him. Most of his body was covered in a surprisingly clean, white cloak, along with a large white turban. Purple pants were the only indication he wore anything underneath the cloak as well as something other than white. An oversized book rested in his lap, his hands holding onto the edges to keep its pages in place. Across from him, a couple of packs were placed haphazardly next to each other. In front of the packs was a little boy, staring at him with big, wide eyes beneath a mass of shaggy, black hair. A wool blanket covered him from toe to shoulder, his head poking out of it like a floating head.

With gritted teeth, the green man said "If you would quit _interrupting_, I could tell you what comes next."

"Okay, Mr. Piccolo!"

Clearing his throat, Piccolo continued. "From the day the two companions joined, families across the kingdom joined together in panic. Many were to erect towers that reached into the heavens and placed their children within them, for protection against other kidnappers. Others refurnished languishing towers to serve this purpose; and even more would seem to magically summon towers out of thin air. To this day—"

"Wow, that must really suck to be put in one of those."

"_Gohan_, if you want me to _finish_ this story, you _will_ be quiet!"

The boy, Gohan, just tilted his head to a side and smiled at him. "Okay, Mr. Piccolo."

Piccolo stared at the eight year old boy with a suspicious look, just waiting for him to say something else. When he didn't, the green man looked to his book, soaking in the slightly different material than what he was narrating. He may have referred to this book as his story-telling book, but Gohan wouldn't know the difference; after all, one had to keep oneself occupied when reciting the same story over and over again.

Hmmm, why was it he felt whipped?

"To this day, many children still reside in those towers. It is even said a few princesses had been placed there, waiting for some idiotic hero to rescue them from their isolation. I'm pretty sure there are a few better things to do, but that's just how some people get their kicks, I suppose."

As he came to a stop, his young charged watched him for several moments before feeling like it was okay to speak. "That's such a great story, Mr. Piccolo."

Piccolo rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure. You've only heard it a thousand times before."

"And it'll be one thousand and one tomorrow, right Mr. Piccolo?"

"…yeah, sure."

A yawn escaped the boy's lips. "It's sleepy time," he said before nestling down against the packs. It was a few minutes before soft snoring emerged from the boy.

A sigh left Piccolo's lips as he shut his book. Another night, another bedtime ritual over with. It had been a long time the two had done this and unless Gohan matured very quickly during the night, it was something that would continue for quite some time.

A shift in the boy's position alerted the green man to a portion of the blanket falling off the boy. Automatically, he reached out and shifted the blanket to cover the boy better.

Oh yeah, he was totally whipped.

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><p>RyRy tested; MaMa approved.<p> 


	2. There Were Two Travelers

Thank you everyone for your reviews! MVS and I appreciate them very much. Hope to hear from you again and please, enjoy the story. Or else. You don't want to know what "else" we mean...

And thanks to Mr. Blue22 for reminding me. There's a time skip between the first chapter and this chapter. It's about eight years between them.

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><p><em>Year 659<em>

"_My baby! Where's my baby!" the frantic mother cried out._

_The lady looked frantic, wild even as she stood about the room, which looked as if it were hit by a tornado. Cushions and toys littered the floor, a bed mattress lying half on its frame, half on the floor. Tables were knocked off their legs, the objects that once rested on them lying about where they fell._

_It was the same in all the surrounding rooms. The mother had tore through the whole apartment, searching in vain for her child, a sinking feeling growing into a pit in her stomach. She wanted her son in her arms right then, right now. Kami have mercy on the person that informed her otherwise._

_Off in the corner of the room, maids looked on in fear of the woman, trying their best not to be noticed. Who knew if the lady would turn her terror and recently revealed violence on them? It wasn't worth their lives to find out._

_A soft knocking caught the attention of the terrified women. Taking a quick look at the raging lady and seeing her tossing around chair cushions in her latest attempt at finding her child, one of the maids quietly made her way to the door, opening it with utmost care so as to not alert the lady. An armored guard stood on the other side, a curious expression on his face as he heard the cries of the lady._

_The maid quickly shook her head in the negative, indicating that he should not question the mayhem occurring beyond the door. "Is there something I can do for you?"_

_The guard straightened out his posture. "Yes ma'am, I've just been informed that Lords Goku and Raditz have returned from their pursuit of the child-napper. Lord Goku is wounded while it is believed Lord Raditz may not have survived the confrontation. I was instructed to deliver this message to the lady, but it appears now is not a good time…"_

"_Indeed it is not. I will deliver your message to the lady. Please inform us of any change in Lord Goku's condition."_

"_Yes ma'am."_

_As the guard turned his back and left, the maid shut the door and faced the still panicked Lady Chichi. A sigh left her lips as the full weight of the message settled on her shoulders. This was not going to be an easy task._

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><p><em>Year 671<em>

The air was crisp and clean, very refreshing to the senses. It was always this way as the sun rose at the horizon, the new light reflecting on the dew clinging to the grass. Being an early riser was a blessing when it came to witnessing such sights.

Gohan had to thank Mr. Piccolo for that one. The old man always made sure he was up at the crack of dawn for some reason or another. The man was always restless and liked to get an early start to the day. He'd relaxed a bit over the years, but being constantly woken up at such an early hour had become habit by now.

Another funny fact about Piccolo: he was green. There weren't many people like him that the young man had seen during their travels. But then, not too many people seemed perturbed by it, so it didn't seem to matter. There were plenty of other weird things to worry about besides skin color. There were even talking animals that lived amongst the population.

Feeling stiff, the young man stretched out his arms, feeling the relief from his loosening muscles. Moving with him was his white, long-sleeved shirt, a trail of buttons running from collar to the bottom. Purple pants covered his legs, tucking in beneath dirty white boots. Those boots had traveled many a mile in their times.

The sound of gravel shifting alerted him to a presence behind him a moment later. The familiar deep voice put him at ease a moment later.

"You're up early, Kid."

"Earlier than you," Gohan grinned as he turned around to face his comrade. A smirk was on the green man's face as he loomed over the sixteen year old youth. "I've been up before you the last month now."

"So you've have." Mr. Piccolo walked to the young man, moving to stand beside him as he gazed out to the sunrise. "Truly remarkable," he murmured.

"That I've been getting up before you? Not really. You're just getting old."

A large vein began pulsing on the taller man's forehead. "I meant the sunrise," he said in an irritated voice.

"Oh, well that's pretty too." Gohan looked out to the sight once more. The two stood in silence for awhile before the young man said "Is it about time we got going?"

"We can wait a few more minutes. It's not everyday one gets to see a lovely sunrise, Kid. You would do better to relish in nature's beauty more; 'smell the roses' as they say."

"This coming from the guy that told me to quit staring like a empty-headed cow and march every morning?"

"That's what happens when people get old, ain't that right?"

Gohan began scratching the back of his head, a large smile appearing on his face. It had been a habit he'd picked up over the years when ever he felt nervous or embarrassed. Mr. Piccolo seemed disgusted at it when he first started doing it, but now he was more amused by it. Amazing how time seemed to soften people up.

Eventually, the two headed back to their campsite and packed up their bags. Neither had much other than a blanket, some food and water, and a few other personal items, but then, one didn't need much when they traveled all the time. It wasn't like they had a place to stash every single thing they found interesting or desirable.

Such was the life of vagabonds.

* * *

><p>The road had been a solitary one with twist and turns and hills and valleys; nothing too unusual really. But as with life, there was always a fork that waited to give them pause. While not a monumental decision, it was always one that was slightly more difficult if there was more than one person making the decision.<p>

"So, which way do you think we should go?" Mr. Piccolo asked.

Gohan stared at his two choices before nodding his head and grinning. "I say we head left. Looks promising."

Mr. Piccolo nodded his head. "Alright, we go right."

Gohan fell down, completely shocked by his mentor's casual discarding of his choice. Finding a way back to his feet, the young man protested "But you said I could pick where we went!"

"No, I asked where you thought we should go. Experience has taught me to never listen to your choices, Kid. You have a knack for taking us head first into some kind of trouble," the green man stated. "I rather today be nice and quiet if you don't mind. Right we go."

Gohan pouted. His choices didn't always lead them to trouble. It was just that one time with the robbers. And that other time with the smugglers. And then those kids that took Mr. Piccolo's cloak and refused to give it back. And then the farmers that thought they were cursed and chased them out of town. And then the…

Okay, so maybe they did have a couple encounters. That still didn't mean anything!

Looking to his comrade, Gohan was immediately surprised to fine the green man not there, instead walking down his chosen path. Now that wasn't nice…

"Mr. Piccolo!" the young man whined as he ran to catch up with him. Catching up with him, Gohan began to sulk, eyeing the green man pointedly.

"If you think I'm going to change my mind, you're sadly mistaken," Mr. Piccolo said, not looking at the youth. "So quit your pouting and act like a man."

"That's kind of hard when an old man won't let me," Gohan murmured.

For a moment, Gohan forgot his comrade had excellent hearing. As Mr. Piccolo had once said, "These ears of mine are more than for decoration, Brat." If the young man remembered correctly, he had promptly begun pulling on said ears, much to the ire of the green man.

Gohan suddenly came to a stop. Why wasn't Mr. Piccolo still walking? Turning around, the young man saw his mentor standing a few yards away, that familiar pulsing vein on his forehead. Uh oh, it looked like he pushed that old age comment a little too far this time.

If Gohan hadn't been looking at the green man's face at that moment, he would've missed the man's eyes changing color, from dark to nearly white. That was his only warning, and fortunately proved enough of one, as the young man crossed his arms in front of his body, his eyes shutting tightly. Focusing his mind, he pronounced "Shield." A moment later and the outline of his body began to glow a bright yellow.

All of this happened just in the nick of time too. Gohan felt a jolt of electricity run through him, though fortunately not painfully. It was more of an awareness if anything and didn't last long.

"Hn, your defensive spell's improved," he heard Mr. Piccolo say gruffly. Opening his eyes, he saw Mr. Piccolo looking at him expectantly.

Gohan grinned. "I only felt the jolt this time. Didn't even hurt at all."

"That's something anyway. Use to be you'd be a pile of burning flesh."

Gohan's face dropped. Every time he did something that he thought would impress Mr. Piccolo, the man would find someway to humble it within seconds. "Hey, I'm not like you and have the talent to blow things up at will."

"Of course, you barely had any talent at all and I miraculously taught you how to defend yourself somewhat. By the way, don't bother with the arm crossing; it's not needed and a waste of energy. You shut your eyes too, so I could've quickly closed the distance between us and attacked you."

Gohan hung his head. That was Mr. Piccolo, always the perfectionist.

That was when he felt a hand clasp his shoulder. Looking up, he saw his mentor standing next to him, giving him his version of a comforting smile. Now that he thought about it, it looked as if it could scare small children away. "Don't worry too much about it, Kid. Magic takes a lot of time and practice to use even the most basic of spells. It's much easier to just walk up to someone and stab them in the back with a knife."

Yep, that was Mr. Piccolo. He knew how to look on the bright side of life.

* * *

><p>It stood out amidst the scenery, almost as if it didn't belong there. Large grey stone blocks formed what remained of a tower, many of its former materials littering the ground around it. Scorch marks dotted the structure, especially near the top of what remained of the tower, almost as if a bolt of lightning had struck it and blown the top apart, which accounted for the debris around it.<p>

Piccolo stared at the worthless monument in distain. How many of these damn things were about anyways? He'd been on the road for twelve years and there always seemed to be one of these things on the horizon, altering the landscape. It was fortunate that someone had gotten around to attacking the thing; honestly, the whole "secluded tower in the wilderness" was like putting a target on someone's back. Though judging from the appearance of the tower, it was likely the place had been abandoned long before it had fallen into pieces. It was hard to believe all of this came about for one stolen child.

"How many of these are there?" Gohan asked, staring up at the thing. The young man seemed genuinely curious about this, regardless of seeing several of them before.

"Hundreds, I would imagine," Piccolo answered gruffly. "I wouldn't be too shocked if it went up to the thousands though."

Gohan turned his head to look at the green man. "That many? Why?"

Piccolo sighed. It looked as if he were going to explain to the Kid the reason. He had to wonder since he told him multiple times when he was a child. "You do remember that story I told you about a child been stolen from one of the Higher Houses, yes?"

The youth nodded his head. "These towers have something to do with that? I just thought that was some story."

"Regardless, many families were terrified that such a thing would happen to their own children. So those that were able to built towers like these over the land, hiding their children within them. As you can see, this one isn't in use anymore. I'd imagine who ever was kept here was released, left on their own, or someone came around and attacked the place."

"That sounds…extreme."

Piccolo chuckled. "Never underestimate a parent's protectiveness of their offspring. Even the meekest can transform into a mother bear."

The two fell into a silence after that. It wasn't until Piccolo took noticed of the sun setting at the horizon that he spoke. "It's about to get dark. We should make camp soon."

Gohan continued looking at the tower. "Why not here?" he asked. "It looks as good as any."

A bubble of humor worked its way up Piccolo's throat. He didn't let it out, but he would definitely allow himself to feel amused. Well, the Kid had a point, might as well use the place. "Alright, let's do it."

Walking up to the tower remains, they soon found a door that barely hung on its hinges. When Gohan touched it to push it open, it fell to the ground with a loud clunk. "Well, that door's useless," he commented, looking at the rotting wood.

Ignoring it, Piccolo crossed the threshold and looked about the place. There wasn't much in there, appearing to be completely looted over the years. Much like the stone outside, pieces of wood—most likely from the furniture and decorations that were once housed here—littered the floor along with what looked like metal. From the shape of the metal, it appeared to be armor, possibly for the head or chest depending on the piece. A fight must've occurred here at some point. Fortunately, there was a roof over their heads that looked like it was still stable. At one end of the room was a staircase that led to an upper floor. What was left of the daylight outside poured through the opening the stairs created.

"Gather the wood and build a fire. We're gonna need some light," Piccolo said.

It was sometime later, as a bright flame burned in the room, the two leaning against their packs as settled in, Gohan asked "You mentioned the purpose of this tower earlier. What's the story behind it?"

Piccolo looked at the youth, sitting across the fire from him. After a moment's thinking he replied "I've told you that story when you were a little kid."

"It's not like we have anything else to do," he pressed, leaning closer. "What was the reason behind them?"

Again, Piccolo stared at the youth before shaking his head. "Alright, so be it. A little more than a decade ago, there was a break-in at one of the Higher Houses. As you know, there are four: the Monkey, the Turtle, the Ribbon, and the Demon. From the Monkey House, a little boy was taken from his bed, the kidnapper successfully escaping. When the Monkey House failed to retrieve the child, there was an uproar across the land. As you know, the Monkey House held some of the greatest warriors of the lands, so if someone could sneak into their stronghold and take one of their own, that person could sneak into anyone's home and take someone. In order to prevent that, many people of the Houses, both higher and minor, began placing their children in towers in order to protect them. A waste of time if you ask me, but then, no one would bothers to listen."

Looking at the youth, Piccolo could swear he was having déjà vu. That same innocent look Gohan had as a child was on his face, clearly interested in the tale. It was almost creepy.

It didn't take very long for Piccolo get tired of staring at that face, causing him to look away. It was then his eyes fell upon a dull-looking knife. Hmm, well there was something he had been neglecting with the boy. "Tell me, we haven't really gone over the finer points of sword combat, have we?"

That caught the young man off guard, thankfully ridding him of that innocent expression as he jumped. "Uhhh, no we haven't."

"Then that is an oversight we need to correct," Piccolo said as he stood up. "Check around the armor in here. It looks like a fight occurred here some time ago, so there might be a couple of swords lying about."

Unsure, Gohan slowly stood up and started searching the room. He seemed to be confused with the sudden change in topic, but that was fine for Piccolo. Stories of time long ago were best left for the tongues of storytellers, not impatient men such as himself.

"Hey! I found one!" Gohan announced excitedly. "And there's another!" he said soon after.

"Very good." Moving away from the fire, Piccolo began kicking pieces of debris away, clearing a spot in the middle of the room. "Bring them here."

Gohan was in the clearing in a couple of seconds. Reaching his hand out, he gestured to receive one of the swords. As soon as he had one, he gripped the hilt tightly. "Hold your sword like this," he commanded.

Staring at the green man's hand, Gohan began to fumble with his hilt until he held it somewhat like himself. "Like this?" he asked.

Quick as lightning, Piccolo drew his sword to a side and then swung it in front of him, knocking the sword out of Gohan's hands, the sword clattering on the ground soon after. "No, go get it and try again."

Gohan looked flabbergasted. "But you're the one that knocked it out of my hands! You should go get it!"

"Gohan, I have a weapon in my hand. If you don't get that sword, I'll cut your head off."

Staring at him, Gohan's eyes soon widened and he took off after the sword, returning with it shortly. "Good, now hold the sword better. You don't want to keep running after it now, do you?"

Once again, Gohan fumbled his hands around the hilt. Once he steadied himself, Piccolo again took a swipe at him. This time the young man held onto the sword, though it was flung along with his arms to a side. A second later and Gohan brought the sword back up.

Piccolo nodded. "Better." Then without warning, the green man went on the offensive, slashing at the young man. Clumsily, Gohan flailed his sword about, trying to deflect the strikes. It was almost as if Piccolo was playing with him as he beat his sword away, leaving him wide open for attack, yet never going for the kill. To be honest, he was playing. It was tough though, since his instincts were telling him to go for the kill already, continuing to grow stronger with each strike.

Eventually, Piccolo backed off, leaving a sweaty and heavily panting Gohan, who looked as if he would collapse at any time. Staring at him with a close eye, Piccolo waited for his student to catch his breath somewhat. "Did you notice how I attacked?" he eventually asked.

Gohan stared at the green man for a few moments before he slowly nodded his head.

Piccolo returned the gesture. "Good. Now strike me just as I did you."

"B-but I can…barely stand," Gohan protested between breaths.

"Either strike me or I cut off both your arms. Decide quickly; my sword is in a slicey mood."

Letting out a cry, Gohan heaved his sword up and swung it high into the air, aiming for Piccolo's head. Relaxed, Piccolo merely held his sword up and caught the blade, his sword barely moving from the initial strike point. "Notice how I stopped your blade without any excess movement," the green man said. "Attack me again."

Hesitantly, Gohan drew his sword back before swinging again. Once again, Piccolo stopped it with the same result. Frowning, Gohan began swinging from all different angles, oddly similar to the way Piccolo had wailed on him previously. Yet Piccolo blocked every blow with minimal effort. "Hmm, a little clumsy but you've picked up a bit," he noted cautiously. "Let's see if that defense is any better."

Immediately, Piccolo parried the next slash and launched a counter attack. Widening his eyes, Gohan barely managed to get his sword back to stop the attack. Interesting enough, his blade didn't fling to his side like previous, but somewhat held its position. It wasn't as sure as his block, but it was better than previously. Smirking, Piccolo withdrew himself. "So it seems you have some talent with the blade. At least it's better than your lack of magic talent."

As Gohan heard the first sentence, a big grin began to crease his face. Once the second sentence came out, he lost the grin. "You always have to find someway to put me down, don't you?" he pouted.

"You learn more when humble," Piccolo gruffly replied. "If all you hear is praise, you become arrogant. When you become arrogant, it leads to needless mistakes. Never be satisfied with your current skill. There is always room for improvement."

Gohan soaked that in for awhile before nodding his head in understanding. "So if I don't get cocky, I won't make mistakes?"

"No, you will make mistakes. I've been trying to beat them out of you so far."

Gohan looked taken back. "You mean this whole lesson was about beating mistakes out of me?" he said incredulous.

"What's the matter? That's how I've always taught you. It's the only way you learn."

The young man paused as he began to go over all of their lessons, from magic, to survival, to swordplay. Piccolo watched in amusement as he saw realization hit, followed by a large sweatdrop rolling down his head. "He's right," he muttered to himself.

A smirk worked its way onto Piccolo's face. "We're done for tonight Kid. Tomorrow, I show you the hard stuff."

"The hard stuff?"

* * *

><p>To Personalperson: Piccolo's a big green softy towards the end lol. Then again, how do you resist a child's wide, innocent eyes?<p>

To dbzfan8: I used textspeech? Where? I'm so lost, though that's not an uncommon occurrence lol. This chapter should be long enough, I would think.

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	3. One Was Taken

There seems to be a bit of confusion concerning Gohan's age and the time skip, which is totally my fault. Currently, Gohan is 16 and at this point the kidnapping occurred 12 years ago. I've gone back and made a couple adjustments in the previous chapters for future reading, but no worries, there's not an entire new scene up. Just a couple details.

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><p><em>Year 652<em>

_A tall, elderly man stormed down the corridors, a look of pure rage on his face. There was an aura about him that screamed torment if anyone were to get in his way. Behind him, several meek individuals_—_possibly his servants_—_followed him, not wanting to be the first to attain the man's attention, lest they be struck down._

_A long white cape flowed behind him, waving about with each step he took. A dark purple shirt with a cut so low, it reached the top of his abdominal muscles, revealing a muscular torso. His pants were of the same color, though baggy enough to hide any sign of such appendages in them. His skin was a bright green, yellow patches outlined by red decorating various spots of muscles such as his biceps and abs._

"_Who do those fools think they are?" he growled as he turned to a doorway, pushing the door roughly, causing it to swing violently in. Stepping through, he didn't bother to shut the door, leaving it to his underlings to take care of. He ignored the door shutting moments later, fully content to muddle around in his livid state. "Do they not understand the severity of the situation? At this rate, the Demon House will barely be able to stand, much less hold onto its current status."_

_He stormed about the room, crashes sounding off as his feet stomped the floor. His ability to rule over his lands was becoming more and more contested with each passing day, something he did not like at all. His treasury was all but spent, leaving the state of his great house in peril. What ever revenues he had been able to collect had dried up months ago, those sources heading to the lands held by the other houses. It was almost as if they had been persuaded to abandon their ancient ties to the Demon lands with the mass exodus. In fact, if he wasn't mistaken, the representatives of the other houses seemed to be overjoyed at the decline of his house._

_The man stopped. Was…was it possible? Were the other houses conspiring against him? Were they waiting for the Demon House to reach the brink of collapse before they struck him down for good? Yes, yes that must be it. Why else would they shoot down his proposal?_

_It all made too much sense now. The other houses wanted him destroyed, gone, eliminated. Well, he would have to do something about that now, wouldn't he? "Servant!" he bellowed, causing the crowed of lackeys to cringe. A moment later, one of the braver souls stepped forward, gulping as he stood at attention. "Y-yes, Lord Piccolo?"_

_"Send a message to my generals. 'Prepare for war.' When we return to the House, I expect my armies to be ready or I'll be dining on your spleen by nightfall. Now go."_

_The servant nodded his head quickly. "Y-yes, Lord Piccolo." As fast as he could, he disappeared from the room._

_A fierce expression covered his face. He would be damned if he let the other houses push him to the brink of destruction. He was Lord Piccolo, Head of the Great Demon House. War was at hand and he would make them all pay with every drop of their blood._

_Every last one of them._

* * *

><p><em>Present<em>

Gohan couldn't help fingering the hilt at his waist. It was a foreign feeling, one of excitement that filled his body from the hairs on his head to the toes on his feet. It had been about a month since his first sword lessons and Mr. Piccolo had felt he had progressed enough to carry a blade of his own. It had been a gift to him a couple days ago, his graduation from "idiot" to "not as incompetent."

Mr. Piccolo's words of course.

That was when he felt as if he had grown up. Not literally, but that one thing the adults around the villages would say. Umm, uhh, he'd think of it later. Right now he was too giddy to let it bother him.

Though he had found one little downside to all of this. The leather casing that had come with the sword, a scabboard…scabberd…scarbourgh? Scabbard! That was the word, scabbard. Anyways, the scabbard had a tendency to slap against his leg as he walked, a minor annoyance until he saw he'd been rubbed raw from it. Mr. Piccolo had just grunted and said not to worry about it. "It'll toughen you out some more so quit whining."

Hmm, why was he so happy about this again?

Looking over to Mr. Piccolo, he had to wonder: why didn't the green man have his own sword buckled to his waist? As long as he had known him, Gohan didn't remember ever seeing the man with a sword on. In fact, Mr. Piccolo never seemed to like carrying one for that matter. Was it possible he didn't like the sword rubbing him raw too? Oh, so much for being so tough.

"Kid, unless you want to keep your eyeballs in your head, I suggest you quit staring at me."

Gohan jerked his head forward. Whoops, it seemed he'd been looking too intently at the green man for too long. "Umm, Mr. Piccolo? Can I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead."

"Well, I noticed you don't wear a sword…"

"And?"

"Well, it got me thinking. Do you not like the rubbing it does to you? Because I don't think I've ever seen you wear a sword."

"I don't need one," was his response.

"Huh? But…you're so good! Shouldn't you have one to protect yourself?"

"Like I said, I don't need one."

"…that's just an excuse, isn't it?"

Mr. Piccolo cracked a smirk. "Is that what you think?"

"Yeah," Gohan replied confidently. "I think your old age is catching up with you."

The vein on Mr. Piccolo's forehead appeared once more. "Hey, I'm not that old!" he shouted. "I don't know where you got that idea, but it's idiotic!"

Oooh, looked like he struck a nerve. Again. Mr. Piccolo always had a knack for…constructive criticism as he liked to call it. That was another way of saying he liked to call the young man the most inept person he had ever met. If age was such a sore spot for him, it looked as if Gohan had a little repaying he had to do.

"Oh, don't mine me. It's not my fault your sensitive about your age," Gohan said, his arms folding behind his head. "It's not that big of a deal, really."

"That's easy for you to say, you're still young," He heard Mr. Piccolo mutter.

"Ah ha! So you admit it! See? The first step is always to admit your problems."

"Okay Gohan, that's quite enough—"

Mr. Piccolo was suddenly interrupted as his body lunged forward, his eyes widening in surprise, then pain. Something thin and swift swept by the green man's arm, a whistling sound following in its wake. Gohan watched as a bright purple line appeared on Mr. Piccolo's arm before purple blood began to trail from the wound.

As soon as he could recover, Mr. Piccolo whipped around, revealing a shaft with small feathers on it sticking out of his back. Someone was firing arrows at them!

A low growl resonated from deep within Mr. Piccolo. "Come out coward! Show yourself and die!"

That was when the green undergrowth before them exploded, leather-covered men rushing out, holding swords in their hands. A flash of light caught Gohan in his eyes, causing him to shy away. The next thing he knew, Mr. Piccolo was leaping towards the men, short swords in each of his hands. Gohan could only watch, paralyzed as his mentor began to fight.

However, before either side could strike, more arrows came out of the woodwork. Each one hit Mr. Piccolo, bouncing off of him as he flinched back from the blows. Eyes falling to the ground, Gohan immediately saw the recently fired arrows, though these were different from the previous ones. Were those blunted arrows? Yes, he could see the metal caps covering their tips, blunting them from actually piercing their target.

That was when one of the charging men arrived in front of Mr. Piccolo. Instead of striking him though, he swung his sword just short of cutting the green man. His blade, however, made contact with the short sword in Mr. Piccolo's left hand, knocking it out of his grasp. A moment later, another man had knocked out the other, disarming the man.

That was when Mr. Piccolo's eyes went wide, but not from pain or surprise. They changed into a pale white, blending in with his eyeballs. A moment later and the first attacker let out a scream as he was electrocuted. He fell shortly after, his body burnt and lifeless.

Had…had Mr. Piccolo…killed that man?

"Magic!" the second attacker shouted. The man then dropped his sword as he lunged at the green man, tackling him to the ground. Immediately, two other men jumped on top of the two, trying their best to hold the green man down.

"Mr. Piccolo!" Gohan shouted, finally overcoming his paralysis. Drawing his own sword, he rushed forward to help his friend.

Unfortunately, one of the unknown assailants got in front of him, his own sword drawn. For a moment, Gohan hesitated, unsure of what to do. However, his opponent knew exactly what to do as he swung his sword at the young man. Gohan barely blocked the strike, but fortunately he held through the blow. That was when his opponent swung his other arm at him, his hand balled into a fist. The punch landed on the young man's right check, knocking him down to the ground as he lost his grip on the sword. Dazed, Gohan rose his head up, wobbling due to the blow.

The last thing he saw was the boot of his opponent crashing down on his face, blackness taking him soon after.

* * *

><p>Piccolo was helpless as he saw one of the attackers knock Gohan out. A violent rage filled his body, causing him to pour strength throughout his body. "You pigs!" he shouted as his arms shot forward with renewed strength, throwing the men holding them down into the air. Each cried out as they flew into the air, landing in heaps a long distance away. Grabbing the other man on top of him, he pulled him to one side of his body before he swung him to another, throwing him away as well.<p>

Getting back up, he turned to take on the man that had attacked his charge. However, before he could move, a force overcame him, seemingly to suffocate him. Piccolo could feel his reservoirs of magic fading away. Crap, these guys had a magic user as well. This day was just getting better and better.

More men soon wrapped their arms around him, forcing him face down into the ground. Though he struggled, Piccolo knew it was useless. What ever power he had was unavailable to him, whether by seal or some other method. That was when a pair of boots entered his line of sight, causing him to cease his struggle.

"We finally caught up to you Lord Piccolo. I must say, you are a hard man to find," a familiar voice said.

Piccolo couldn't help the snide remark that entered his head. "That's the point of hiding, or did you not know that? Hunted men tend to do that you know."

"I see your time away has not dimmed your shining personality. Hopefully you will be able to keep it when you arrive at the castle."

Piccolo decided to keep quiet this time. There was no point in speaking at this point. Tilting his head up, just enough to look in front of him, he saw the scant attention being paid to Gohan's fallen form. Good, hopefully they would just forget about him and leave him behind. He needed to make sure of it.

For his hide as well as Gohan's.

* * *

><p>RyRy tested; MaMa approved.<p> 


	4. The Other Left Behind

Gohan's face hurt. A lot. In fact, the throbbing was what woke him up. Why was his face hurting? Did a bee sting him? Did Mr. Piccolo make him chop a tree down with his face again (don't ask)? Opening his eyes, he immediately squinted them. The sky, it was full of color. Was it evening already? Boy, Mr. Piccolo was going to be mad that he was sleeping through the day.

Bringing himself up, he found himself near a road. Nothing unusual there since they had camped on roadsides before. However, the packs weren't anywhere in sight. Had someone robbed them? Looking around, Gohan found no sight of Mr. Piccolo or the packs. Feeling nervous, Gohan moved his hand to grip his sword hilt, surprise hitting him when he grasped nothing but air. Jerking his head down, he saw that his sword wasn't in the scabbard. In fact, the sword and scabbard weren't anywhere.

And that's when it hit him. He and Mr. Piccolo had been attacked earlier in the day. He had seen men tackle his comrade, one of which had been killed. He had rushed to help his mentor but had been disarmed moments later. Now that he thought about it, he was a bit embarrassed by that. Mr. Piccolo would be having some words with him about it the next time he saw him.

Getting up onto his feet, his eyed the area closely. His first few observations had only been quick, not allowing for much scrutiny. This time, he was looking for anything out of the ordinary.

The whole place had been cleaned from what he could tell. No weapons or clothing or people were anywhere. Well, except for him for some unknown reason. Unless Mr. Piccolo was very well hidden, it appeared he'd been taken with them. But why? It wasn't like he was important or anything. Nothing was making any sense.

Well, first thing's first, he needed to know where the green man was taken. Once he found Mr. Piccolo, he could figure out what to do from there. So…which way did they go? Moving up to the road, Gohan was happy to see a mess of footprints. That was good! He could follow them to where he wanted to go! But…what if other people had traveled this road while he was unconscious? Then he wouldn't know where they went!

Wait, if he had been unconscious and someone passed by, then it was possible they would've seen him and done something to help, or so he hoped. People weren't so selfish they would leave him lying there, right?

Right?

Staring at the road for awhile, it soon became apparently that a large group of tracks were heading towards his left, towards the west if he weren't mistaken. It was his best guess in any case. Perhaps he might run into someone that would confirm it.

It was at that moment that something caught the young man's eye. Looking, Gohan immediately found an object lying on the ground, something he recognized as Mr. Piccolo's old storybook. That was something at least, he had Mr. Piccolo's storybook! Quickly, the lad moved to pick it up, running one of his hands over the cover and binding. Oh yes, this was the book; he could remember like it was yesterday. Smiling, Gohan felt the urge to look at one of the many stories he had heard from the book and opened the cover, rifling through a few of the pages until stopping abruptly at one.

For a moment, Gohan wasn't quite sure what he was looking at. There were some things he recognized as words, but most of the page had pictures on it. Pictures of women to be precise. And even more precise would be pictures of women wearing nearly nothing at all…

Quickly, Gohan scanned through several more pages before slamming the book shut, his face pale. Was this what Mr. Piccolo was looking at when he told him those bedtime stories? This…this wasn't a storybook. This wasn't a storybook at all!

As those thoughts settled in, Gohan's mind began feeding him more thoughts, different ones in fact. Looking around him for a moment, the young man then opened up the book again and began staring.

* * *

><p>The first village had confirmed what he had hoped to find. A large group of men had passed through, heading to the west. Considering the symbols they carried on their banners, it was thought they were headed to the capital. It was more than a week since the attack and Gohan found himself staring at a large castle, the likes of which he had never seen before.<p>

Well, to be more precise, it was a city with a large castle at its center. The tall walls that circled the city were composed mostly of large grey stones, the same being said of the battlements and the castle in the distance. Flags flapped strongly in the breeze throughout, an armored guard patrolling the high wall. A moat surrounded the city, a drawbridge being the only apparent way to enter the place, fortunately lowered at the moment. He couldn't tell much of the city itself, but there were more important things to worry about.

Taking a deep breath, Gohan walked across the lowered bridge and entered the city. There he got a better look at what was within the walls of this huge place. Buildings and gardens stretched all the way from the walls, reaching the castle at a distance. Gohan could feel himself gulp. It was gonna take awhile to get to that castle from here.

And as he predicted it was a long walk, but once he was there he came upon a new obstacle. The only entrance into the castle he could see was a huge gate being guarded by men more heavily armored than the ones that had attacked him and Mr. Piccolo. Instead of the more mobile leather armor, full metal plates wrapped around the bodies of the men, heavy looking axes and spears resting in their hands. Helmets with hinged visors covered their heads. It must've been quite hot in those things.

Almost as if to confirm that thought, one of the armored men collapsed into a heap of metal. One of his fellow guards looked at him and shook his head. "N00b," he said.

One of his fellow guards turned his head and looked at him. "N00b? What the hell kind of word is that?"

The first man shrugged. "Don't worry, it'll never catch on."

"It better not. I rather not have my kids calling each other that. Ugh."

An uncomfortable silence passed before the second guard spoke again. "Well, what are we gonna do with him?"

"Hmm…" the first guard thought. "Get me a paint brush and some paint. I'm gonna paint on him."

If there was such a thing as a man covered in metal looking incredulous, Gohan was definitely seeing it. "Paint on him? Paint what? What can you possibly do?"

"I was thinking of small penises."

"…I'll get the paintbrush."

Gohan slowly took a few steps away from those men. He wasn't too sure he wanted to get caught up in whatever mischief they were up to. Though that still left him one big problem: how the heck was he gonna get into that castle?

"Hey Mister, are you lost?"

Gohan practically jumped out of his skin. Looking around, he didn't see anyone that would or could talk to him. Was…was he hearing voices?

"Mister! Down here!"

Down? Tilting his head down, he soon found two children, both of them looking at him adorably. One was a boy with wildly spiky black hair and a face any old lady would want to pinch. The other was a purple-haired lad, who's blue eyes could give him a more serious look if he so wished. The current looks on their faces, though, immediately put him on guard. Every time he had run into a child with such a look, they had ended up using him in some bizarre prank, scam, or one time a human shield. No, he didn't want to go into details, though for each time it happened, he ended up having to pay for the damages with sweat, blood, and back-breaking labor while Mr. Piccolo yelled that he was doing something wrong. Hmm…why was he trying to save Mr. Piccolo again?

"Umm, is there something I can do for you?" Gohan asked, eyeing the kids warily.

Each held their adorable look. "If you would be kind, could you spare us some money?" the child with the purple hair said. "We're trying to collect some for a good cause and anything you could give us would be much appreciated."

Gohan stated at them for awhile. "What kind of cause?"

"Umm…we…need the money…to…save...something. Yes, we needed it to save something."

"What kind of something?"

"Umm," the kid said before looking about, his eyes falling on the guards, who were just leaving their post, all except for the one that had fallen earlier. On his armor were bright paint colors, each describing various sizes of the male anatomy and sometimes the very word itself. "We want to make sure that guards have the proper armor they need to do their jobs. After all, they do put their lives up to protect the common man."

"I guess that's a good cause," Gohan said reluctantly. "Unfortunately though, I don't have any money. I was robbed several days ago."

Both kids lost their cute faces. "You sure you don't have any money?" the purple-haired kid said.

"Yeah. Sorry."

The kid rolled his eyes. "C'mon Goten, this guy's a cheapskate. Let's find someone else."

"Okay!" the kid called Goten said. "Bye Mr. Cheapskate!" Both kids then began walking away, heading to who knows where. Though he wasn't too fond of the name, Gohan supposed there were worst things to be called.

Returning to his previous source of trouble, Gohan couldn't help but say aloud "Now how do I get in there?"

Apparently the two kids weren't too far away to hear him say that. "Get in where?" the purple-haired kid asked, looking back at him.

Turning to look at the kids, he pointed his finger to the castle and simple replied "That."

Both boys looked at the castle for a moment before Goten said "Why would you want to get in there?"

Hmm, how much should he tell these kids? That he was on some kind of rescue mission? What if they told someone that would cause him trouble? Well, who could they tell anyways? It wasn't like the lived there or anything. "A friend of mine was taken there a few days ago and I want to get him out. Unfortunately, I don't know where he is in there or how to get him out."

The boys looked at each and then back at him. "You want to bust him out of prison?" the purple-haired boy asked.

Huh, when he put it that way, it sort of sounded like he was doing something bad. "Uhh, pretty much."

For the longest while, the two young boys stared at him. Slowly, the corners of their mouths began to twitch up, their eyes starting to shine. "You…you really want to do a prison break? A real life one?" Goten asked in an awestruck voice.

Uhh, hadn't he already answered that one?

Before he could answer though, the other boy's face lit up with a smile, his body trembling. "This'll be so awesome!" he exclaimed. "C'mon Goten, let's help him out!"

"Alright! But…how do we get him in, Trunks?"

Trunks fell into a thinking pose, one of his hands rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "That's a good question. Perhaps we can disguise him, but with what?" Looking around the area, his eyes soon fell on the lonely guard who stilled laid unconscious on the ground. "Hey, maybe we can dress him in that guy's armor! No one will notice him if we say he's our bodyguard or something."

"That's a great idea Trunks!" Goten agreed, jumping in place. "Hey you! Go pick that guy up. We need to hide him somewhere and get you in that armor!"

Gohan gulped. How come he was getting a bad feeling from this?

* * *

><p>He was right. Wearing this heavy armor was hot. In fact, he could swear he was sweating from the encased heat and the amount of energy he had to exert just to move in the thing. After Gohan had huffed and puffed and dragged the man in the armor to a somewhat secluded spot, namely behind a shed that just conveniently happened to be close by, he and the two boys had struggled to remove the armor and place it on him. It had been hard but they managed to succeed.<p>

And like the boys said, it got him in the castle, though with plenty of snickering. Though he could barely hear much in the helmet, he caught some of the guards they passed laughing at his private parts-covered armor. Apparently some of them thought the boys had done it to him. Fortunately, it helped with their story of him guarding them so that was all that mattered.

Unfortunately, he was dying to get out of this metal suit. "Uhh, kid?" Gohan spoke, trying to keep his voice down. "When can I get out of this armor?"

The one with purple hair, Trunks if he remembered right, turned and glared at him. "My name is not kid. It is Trunks."

"Sorry Trunks, but can I take this stuff off soon? It's very uncomfortable."

"How do you expect to get to the dungeon without it? That was the whole point of putting it on."

That was a decent enough point. "Well, I'll be able to move faster without it. We can stash it somewhere hidden and get to the dungeon quicker."

"He is kinda right," Goten said. "He is so slow in that thing that we could run all over the castle and back and he would only get to the end of the hallway."

Trunks snorted. "Fine. We just need to find a closet or something." Looking around, he immediately found a door he thought would do the job. "Over there. You head for that door and I will check it out to make sure it is not being used."

Before he could reply, Trunks had scampered for the door, leaving Gohan to sigh. These kids had an odd way of talking, he noticed. It was almost if they wanted to pronounce every word to perfection. What was the point of that anyway? They didn't do it outside the castle, but now they were acting like completely different people. Ugh, it was too much to think of at this point. He might as well follow the suggestion; it wasn't as if he knew the place well. Awkwardly, he marched to the door, arriving in time for Trunks to finish his inspection of the room and hurry him in. "We are in luck, this room is not in use. Quick, get that stuff off so we can go!"

Entering the room, Gohan didn't bother looking around. Once the door was closed, both boys in the room with him, he began stripping off the armor, grateful to be feeling fresh air. Hearing and feeling the boys working on the straps and buckles, Gohan could feel as the weight on him slowly dissipated. What a glorious feeling it was! When all the armor had finally been removed, the young man felt as if he could collapse on the ground and sleep for ever.

Unfortunately, Trunks wasn't going to let him have that pleasure. "Alright, let's get going." Opening the door, he looked to the left and right before opening it wider and motioning for him and Goten to follow. Once in the hallway, they were back on their journey to the dungeons.

"Hey! Who the heck are you?"

Gohan froze in place. Just as he and the boys had rounded the corner at the end of the hall, they happened to run into another guard, this one wearing the lighter leather armor. "I don't believe I've seen you before" he said, inspecting Gohan.

That was when Trunks made his presence known. "Hey, he is with us!"

The guard looked down surprised. "Lord Trunks! And Lord Goten! I didn't see you there!"

Both kids didn't like the sound of that. "Hey! Watch your tongue!"

The guard straightened out his posture. "My apologies, lords. But I still must ask who the young man is with you."

For once, Trunks seemed stumped. "Umm, he is…uhhh…"

"He is my brother!" Goten blurted out.

"Your brother? I wasn't aware you had one, Lord Goten."

"Yeah, he is my older brother. He usually does not come to the castle here because…umm…Mom…Mom! Yeah, Mom wants him to be a sch…schal…schol…scholar! Yeah, so he is usually back at the Monkey House studying old papers and stuff."

"Hmmm," the guard said as he studied the increasingly nervous Gohan. "He does have a resemblance to you. What is your name again? So I can make sure I recognize you with your full title."

Okay, he needed a name, something that would go with the Monkey House. But, he didn't know how they named their families. That was a problem and a big one at that. He only had to go off of Trunks and Goten for the mo—

Hey, Goten, Gohan. Those were similar enough. "I'm..." he paused, coughing a bit when he saw the guard narrow his suspicious eyes at him. Great, he needed to sound like these kids now. Thinking the words in his head, he then corrected "I am Gohan."

The guard seemed satisfied by that answer. "Lord Gohan," he repeated. "Many apologies for not recognizing you, milord. It won't happen again."

Gohan nodded his head. "Uhh, sure."

And with that the guard left them, traveling down the hall they had just used. Once the guard was out of hearing distance, the three continued down their new corridor. "That was a good one, Goten," Trunks said. "The guy believed it and everything."

"Thanks Trunks!" Goten replied, a hand going to the back of his head.

Huh, that looked a bit familiar.

"And you, good name," Trunks said as he turned his attention to Gohan. "I would not have thought of making up a name like that."

"But that is my name," Gohan responded.

"Huh? Really? Wow, that was dumb. You should not give your real name to people, especially strangers."

"But, you gave me your name," Gohan protested.

"That is completely different. We already met."

"Yeah!" Goten agreed. "We were asking you for money so we could buy that sweet food in the city!"

"Goten! You weren't supposed to tell him that!" Trunks reprimanded.

Goten squeaked as his hands quickly moved to cover his mouth. "I'm sorry Trunks!" he said, his words being muffled by his hands. Huh, weird. They would speak in that weird tongue around the people in the castle, but then talk like any regular person around each other. How did they know when to use which tongue? Very confusing.

It was then that Gohan could feel himself sweatdropping. These kids were something else.

* * *

><p>To TheMasenkoMan: Correct! Have a cigar!<p>

To Fan: Thanks!

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	5. Who Received a Quest

Hey guys, I've got a question. Does anyone know what's going on with ffn? Everytime I try to do a review reply from the email, all I get is a window that says "Sorry, the link is outdated." I half expect to see them tell me that I need to find a link a few years younger than me. Does anyone know what's going with that?

* * *

><p><em>Year 660<em>

_Goku viewed the congregation warily. His body was stilled pained by the wound he had received the year before, the bandages wrapped around his torso being evidence of that. It was a reminder of his failure, not once, but twice. The first was bringing down his son's kidnapper; the second was being useless as his brother was killed in front of him._

_That hadn't been a very good day at all._

_His wife was still in shambles over the whole ordeal. There were times where she would go into their son's room, expecting to find him, and then go into hysterics when she couldn't find him. It was as if she was reliving that day over and over and it hurt. When he got his hands on that demon, he'd make him pay for ever stepping into his home._

_Since then, there had been an exodus of children from the higher houses. Even the minor houses had been caught up in the frenzy. No one wanted this to happen to their families and had yet to calm down over it. Just watching it made his blood boil. Why hadn't anyone considered this was a possibility before his own son had been taken?_

_Truth was, even he hadn't thought about it, but the question still held weight. Was all this uniting business just for show? A reactionary twitch that would be useless for prevention? Most likely. Everything was better off before they formed this Head House thing._

_And that was why he was here. This chamber was used as a gathering place for the Head House to convene when one house, be it a Higher or Minor house, wished to bring up some matter that mostly dealt with their own business. It was the "peaceful approach" they said._

_Currently, the House in charge of the Head House was the leader of the Ribbon House, an elderly man called Gero. Though he appeared feeble, his mind was very sharp, his eyes piercing through anything he looked at. So what ever matter was up for debate, he was the ultimate authority, at least until the next house took over._

_The matter for today though, and his reason for being here, was sending out another rescue team for his son. The Monkey House was still pressing the others for the recovery of one of their own, but unfortunately things had not been going in their favor. The other houses had tire of this venture and were wishing to put it behind them._

_Not if he could help._

_So far arguments were being made for each side, Gero listening and weighing each side carefully. Though he wasn't fond of the man, Goku knew he would consider everything that was said, such was his nature.._

_It was awhile before both sides had rested their cases, leaving the decision to Gero. He sat on the throne that all Head Stewarts of the Head House previously sat on, contemplating each angle. Finally he spoke up. "After much deliberating, I must rule that we end the search for Lord Goku's son."_

_Outrage sounded off all around him from his fellow countrymen. A numbness filled his whole body as he heard the verdict. How? How could he rule in such a way?_

"_Silence!" Gero called out, waiting patiently for the Monkey House to calm down. When they did, he began to explain. "It has been a year since the kidnapping. Being as the kidnapper was from the fallen Demon House, it is very unlikely the child has survived once the House was identified and punished. Though it seems cruel, there is no point in a continued search for a dead child."_

_This time, rage filled his body. Standing up, Goku protested "You cannot do this! This is _my_ son that is out there! Not one of you would rest if it was one of your own!"_

"_Indeed you are right, Lord Goku," Gero replied. "But the fact of the matter is there is no more need for the other houses to aid you in the recovery of your son. They have already done as much as they are obliged to—"_

"_Obligated? Do not tell me about what you are obligated to do! I want my son found and so help me—"_

"_Do not dare to threaten this Head, Lord Goku," Gero reprimanded. "A threat against the Head House is a threat against all houses. If I were you, I would watch your words very carefully."_

_Goku bared his teeth. "How can you come up with such a ruling? How?"_

_Gero straightened his posture. "We have had patrols searching for a year Lord Goku. In that time, the kidnapper and your son should have been found, yet they have not. There are only so many places for a man and child to hide, especially when one of them differs from the rest of the general populous like Lord Piccolo. In fact, his escape should not have happened considering you and your brother were on his trail not long after the kidnapping. You failed to recover your own son and have done little since that day to find him. If the child's own father cannot be troubled to find him, why should the rest of us have to?"_

_Before Goku could answer, another of his countrymen, a short man with flame-like hair stood up. Lord Vegeta, the first in line for the Head of the Monkey House, if Goku wasn't mistaken. "Lord Goku has been tending to his injuries he received in the confrontation with the kidnapper. He was lucky enough to survive it, much less be here because of it."_

"_A valid point," Gero said. "But that does not change the fact that that the search is without merit. If the Monkey House wishes to continue the search, by all means do so, but do not expect the assistance of the other houses._

"That_ is my final ruling on the matter."_

* * *

><p>The dungeons were completely different from the corridors in the castle. For one, the hallways had carpet and wallpaper—perhaps they were even painted—on their floor and walls. The dungeon…didn't have anything of that. What appeared to be crudely stacked rocks made up the walls of the place, the ground being made of the same material. Thick bars of wood made up the front of the holding cells, each one separated by the same rock walls. A pile of straw was stacked at one of the back corners of the cell, the only sort of bed prisoners were afforded here. In the opposite corner was a hole in the ground, something Gohan suspected was where prisoners did their business in. A small square door with a metal lock and keyhole was the only way in and out of the cells, one so small even the boys had to get on their hands and knees and crawl through. It made Gohan worry how they could get Mr. Piccolo out of one of those things.<p>

And more importantly, how did the people here manage to get him in? He was a pretty big guy after all.

Moving pass each empty cell, the three finally found Mr. Piccolo laying on his pile of straw curled up, his back to them. Unlike the previous cells though, his cell had odd markings covering it from floor to wall to ceiling. Gohan had no idea what they meant, but it was something that was supposed to keep Mr. Piccolo imprisoned he guessed.

Looking to the boys, Gohan said "Can either of you find the keys here? It'd be easier to unlock the doors than to try and chop them down."

Goten saluted. "I'm on it!" The young boy then scampered off.

"So is this the guy?" Trunks whispered to him, looking at Mr. Piccolo's prone body, a frown coming to his face. "This is really him?"

Gohan nodded his head eagerly. "Yep, this is him." Rapping his knuckles on the wooden bars, he hissed "Mr. Piccolo, wake up!"

Almost immediately, Mr. Piccolo jolted up, whipping his head around to see the two. "What are you doing here?" he demanded, keeping his voice low as well.

Gohan was a little taken back by this action. Sure, Mr. Piccolo had made some rather harsh demands of him in his life, but not once had he seen him this severe. It was almost as if he didn't want him to break him out. "Umm, I'm here to get you out of here."

Mr. Piccolo stared at him for awhile before the corner of his mouth twitched up. "Is that so? It must be a sad day when you're the one rescuing me."

Ah, here was the man he knew. So full of sarcasm and vanity.

That was when Trunks made himself known again. "I'm going to go help Goten find those keys. You wait here." Gohan just nodded his head in acknowledgement. The sooner those keys were found, the sooner they could get out of here.

"So who was the kid?" Mr. Piccolo asked as he fully turned his body to face his pupil, sitting on the straw. "I don't think I've seen him before."

"He's the one that helped me get in here. There's another one looking for the keys to your cell. I told them I wanted to get you out and they got excited about it."

A grin found its way onto the green man's face. "So trusting, aren't you?" A sigh left his lips then. "Ya know, I hadn't thought you'd come for me. I figured you'd get lost in the wilderness or something."

Gohan looked a bit hurt. "Not come for you? Why would you think that?"

"Well, I wasn't the nicest person around. For all I knew, you were ready to live on your own without an old man like me tailing along with you."

This time Gohan sighed. "We've been traveling for how long? As far as I can remember, it's always been you and me on the road. I don't know any other life than that and I don't want to lose it. I don't think I'd know what to do with myself if it's permanent."

Mr. Piccolo's eyes softened. "I hadn't expected this to happen." What he meant, Gohan had no idea, but it obviously meant something to his companion. A silence fell on the two for awhile until Mr. Piccolo began to feel restless. "Those kids have been gone for awhile, haven't they?"

"Yeah," Gohan agreed as he began scratching the top of his head. "I don't know what's taking them so long.

Suddenly, Mr. Piccolo's eyes became alert, his ears twitching ever so slightly. "Gohan, quick, hide."

The young man was dumbfounded. "Huh? What are you—?"

"Don't question me, go and hide now!"

Immediately, Gohan knew something was wrong. It wasn't often that Mr. Piccolo told him to do something so seriously, almost desperate sounding, but when he did, something bad was about to happen. Backing away from the cell, Gohan began looking around for a good place to start hiding.

Instead, he found a stern-looking Trunks looking at him, his little arms crossed over his chest. Goten was next to Trunks, looking every bit confused about what was going on.

And right behind them were several armed guards, each one looking like they were ready to beat the ever living crap out of him.

This was not going to end well.

* * *

><p>He was frail looking with a perchance for wearing baggy robes. He had a beard that stretched down to his belly button, groomed for maximum appeal to all the lovely ladies. A pair of tinted, red rimmed glasses covered his aged eyes.<p>

And his head was so bald, the shine of it was often mistaken for a rising sun.

He was Roshi, the current Head Stewart of the Head House, and to say he wielded it wisely would be half true. True because he did do all of the tedious activities expected of the Head Stewart. It was false when he used such power to make a room just for the harem of pretty girls he wanted at his heed and call. Oh, he didn't take that many liberties with it, but it did make his gathering of girls so much easier.

And today he was planning on adding another one. Before him, a very shapely girl dressed in transparent fabric danced ever so seductively, swaying her lush body from side to side, spinning every so slowly. Almost giving away her body's secrets yet keeping them as mysterious as ever. Oh yes, she would do very nicely.

And just as the dance was getting to the climax, a point that he himself was about to join in, the doors flew open, a unit of guards storming into the room lead by two young boys.

And just like that, the mood was completely ruined. The girl shrieked as her arms covered up her bosom, running to the nearest door to get out of there. He was just so close too he could cry!

"What is the meaning of this?" Roshi shouted, standing up in all of his fury. Immediately, he realized that was a bad idea and quickly sat back down, grabbing the nearest object he could get his hands on—which turned out to be a potted plant—and placed it right in his lap. "What are you doing here during my special time?"

"A jail-breaker, milord," one of the guards answered as two of them dragged a young man towards Roshi, throwing him to the ground a few feet from him. "We were informed by Lords Trunks and Goten of this man's attempt to break out the demon Piccolo and apprehended him outside of the demon's cell."

"He wanted to what?" Roshi exclaimed. Why on earth would anyone want to break that miserable creature out of captivity? It didn't make sense to him. Looking down at the youth, he then asked "Why would you want to release that miscreant?"

The young man looked at him, completely baffled, if not a little roughed up. "I-I don't know what you are talking about! I don't know if Mr. Piccolo did some crime or anything, but he doesn't deserve to be locked up down there!"

"Oh? And how do you know this man?" Roshi asked curiously. Someone actually standing up for that monster? Very curious, indeed.

"Well, I've been traveling with him for several years and not once did I see him do anything wrong. He was just a man trying to…to raise me the best he could."

Lord Piccolo…_raising_ someone? How did _that_ happen? Actually, why would anyone want to be with the man, especially after what he had done? Roshi needed to get to the bottom of this quickly. "Tell me, how did you know of this man's capture? It hasn't exactly been long since the man's apprehension and word has yet to be sent out."

The young man swallowed. "I…I was with him when we were attacked by this group of armored men. I was knocked out and woke up to find Mr. Piccolo missing."

"Wait a minute. You were the man Lord Piccolo was with when he was captured? The one he said he had tricked into leaving a nearby village so he could eat him?"

"Huh? Lord? Mr. Piccolo is a lord? And eat me?"

Roshi blinked. "You mean he wasn't trying to eat you?"

"No!" the young man protested. "Mr. Piccolo would never do that! He's not a monster! Or some kind of lord. He's just Mr. Piccolo!"

Roshi's eyes softened. So this lad really had no idea who the man he was traveling with. "You really don't think your 'Mr. Piccolo' is the man we think he is?"

"No, not at all!"

"What if I were to tell you his full name is Lord Piccolo II? And that his father was the former Head of the fallen Demon House? The resemblance between them is uncanny."

The young man blinked. "Demon House? Piccolo II?"

Roshi nodded his head. "And what if I told you that his father had ordered him to sneak into the Monkey House and steal one of their children in an attempt to hold him for ransom?"

"You…you mean like in those stories?"

Again, Roshi nodded his head. He needed to word his next words carefully, in order to make sure this young man understood what his travel companion was facing. "We have reason to believe that the man you call 'Mr. Piccolo' is the man that kidnapped the Monkey House child. We don't know what he did with the child afterwards."

The young man seemed shaken. "No…it can't be. That wasn't, it can't be Mr. Piccolo." A new resolved covered the young man's features. "I don't believe it. Piccolo may be a demon, but he's not this Piccolo the second. There could be plenty of demons called Piccolo."

Roshi blinked. That thought had not actually crossed his mind. It was quite possible there were more demons called Piccolo. Yet, the same kidnapper was the man that was in the cells down below. He was the right man without a doubt. But, if this young man was truthful with living with this man for years, then they may have made a mistaken in capturing him. Oh boy, the Monkey House would throw a fit if they knew he had let the man go only to find out that indeed they had the correct man in their custody. This was truly a conundrum.

Hmm…what to do? He needed positive identification of the man they held. If the man downstairs would confess, then it would be an open and shut case. In the event he didn't, which was more likely, he needed someone that could identify him properly as the kidnapper. Lord Goku would be the man for such a job, but he was out in the Monkey territories doing who knows what. It would be some time between Lord Vegeta sending out a request for his presence here and him receiving it and arriving. In the meantime, he needed to keep this youth occupied.

Now how could he do such a thing?

A small creaking sound sounded off to his right, causing him to look and see the dancing girl from earlier, peaking out from the door she had used in flight. Mmmm…lovely girlie…he couldn't wait to role play with her later. He was just getting into that hero and damsel ga—

Wait, damsel! That was it!

"Alright young man, I have a deal for you!" Roshi announced, catching most of the people in the room—that being the guards, the young boys he didn't recognize, the young man, and a few servants running around the place—off guard. "If you can go out and rescue a princess and bring her here, I will release your friend! How does that sound?"

The young man's eyes lit up brightly. "Yeah, yeah! I can do that!"

"And make sure she's pretty. I don't want any of them ugly ones. If you bring an ugly one, I'll make sure Piccolo is hung within the hour!"

The young man nodded his head frantically. "I understand. Pretty princess, got it."

Oh, this was going to be good. Roshi would get to add another girl to his harem. This day couldn't get any better!

* * *

><p>Quick note. The dungeon described in the chapter was one used in my favorite book series. Of course there are some differences, like that one having the dungeon built in the middle of a mountain for instance, but for the most part, they're pretty much the same.<p>

To bvprincess23: I guess Piccolo never taught Gohan to not talk to strangers lol. And you can't fault Gohan for looking back into the book. He's a curious lad who's developing an interest in girls lol

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	6. He Ran Into Trouble Along the Way

_Year 659_

_Damn it, these Monkeys were persistent. This wasn't how things were suppose to go. It was suppose to be an in-and-out operation. He just had to snatch the kid out of his bed, keep him quiet long enough to get out of the house, and be on his way back home._

_It was now that Piccolo found out that the best laid plans didn't always go according to plan._

_Piccolo hadn't known that the child's mother had been in the apartment when he had snatched the kid. That she would raise a ruckus loud enough to alert everyone in the Monkey House that something was wrong. That one of the guards would find him and just barely got off a signal to two of the house's lords before he managed to silence him. And one of those lords just happened to be the brat's father._

_Piccolo was out of the house thankfully. He didn't need the brunt of every Monkey living there to fall on him. The child in his arms had miraculously remained asleep in his arms the whole time, so that was another blessing he was thankful for. The forest to the northeast of the house was the only thing keeping him from being apprehended once the two Monkey lords had caught his trail. One he could handle, but two would be a mistake to face. With all the trees and undergrowth slowing them down, it was allowing the demon to keep his current distance between them._

_Unfortunately, Piccolo knew that would be changing soon. The forest would soon give way to a rocky mountainous region and there was no telling if he could keep up his current pace there. It was there that he would have to face the two lords and he doubt his sword skills could compete against them. The war had shown this house's people were exceptional in combat and facing two of them angered beyond belief was not the right way to go about living._

_Damn it, the forest ended sooner than he had hoped. He could see the lack of vegetation several yards ahead of him, the rocky ground taking over and tall stone outcroppings rising to the heavens. Exploding from the green undergrowth, Piccolo put on more speed as he raced into the new terrain._

_Okay, he needed a plan. He didn't have much time until the two lords exited the forest and could put on more speed. Weaving through the rocky edifices, Piccolo's eyes swept over every inch of the place, trying to find something he could use to his advantage. Seeing a path carved up on one of the mountains, Piccolo made his way to it, climbing up the mountain side until he was on the path. Looking back, he could see the tree line some distance away. Unfortunately, he also saw two forms appearing from the forest, both in infamous Monkey battle armor. From what he could see, one of them was bigger than the other, more bulky with long, spiky black hair. The other was thinner but had shorter hair, though it spiked in every which direction imaginable. They were Lords Raditz and Goku if he were not mistaken. Ending his sightseeing, Piccolo moved on, looking for his next vantage point._

_It must've been an hour or so since he had entered this mountain region, but Piccolo eventually found something of interest. Two mountains were side by side, a path leading into crevice between them. If his eyes did not deceive him, only one man at a time could walk down it._

_Perfect._

_Looking at himself, he couldn't find anything that he could leave to attract the Monkey Lords' attention. That was until his eyes fell on the child in his arms, particularly the small hat on his head. That would have to do at the moment. Slipping it off, he dropped the little hat on the ground and then took off into the crevice._

_As it turned out, this crevice has many branches to it, most leading to dead ends if he were not mistaken. Turning into one, Piccolo stayed close to the entrance, his back pressed against the rocky wall, waiting and listening for his pursuers. Shifting the boy into his left arm, Piccolo then raised his right hand, extending his index and middle fingers. Gathering his magic energies into it, he waited for his patience to reward him. He only had one shot at this so he needed to make this count._

_It wasn't long until he heard the loud footfalls of his followers. They fell silent for a moment, before one of them said "Brother, look here. This belongs to your son, does it not?"_

"_It is!" Piccolo heard the second man exclaim, Lord Goku he believed. "The thief has been here recently too. We are catching up to him!"_

"_But where did he go?" Lord Raditz inquired. Then, "He must have gone into this crevice. It is the only path here."_

_That was when the footfalls began, growing louder due to the echoing within the close walls. As they closed the distance between them, the echoes grew louder and louder. Steeling himself, Piccolo waited until he felt the right moment was upon him._

_Now._

_Moving out of his hiding place, turning to face the two lords, Piccolo raised his extended fingers, magical energies cackling at his tips. Aiming them at the first lord, Raditz, he then shouted "Light of Death!" firing his spell. A thin beam raced from his fingertips, a second beam swirling around the first one. With nowhere to move in the tight crevice, the beam struck Raditz in the chest, tearing through him and exploding out his back. A cry of pain ripped from his lips as he flew backwards, another cry of surprise coming from behind him. A loud explosion roared off somewhere in the distance, but Piccolo cared not for it. His focus was right on the two Monkeys before him._

_One look at Raditz's fallen body told him the man was dead, the spell doing its job to perfection. However, further behind the body was Goku, who wasn't as dead as he had hoped. Instead, a large pool of blood spilled from his side, his hands gripping onto the hole as he tried to stop the bleeding. His face was twisted in pain, yet his eyes stared right at Piccolo's towering form. It was at this moment the child in his arms began to whimper, from what the Demon Lord did not know. He still appeared to be asleep, so it was quite possibly a bad dream._

_A wicked smile appeared on Piccolo's face, his fangs revealing themselves to the lord. "You should head home, Monkey. With a wound like that, I doubt you will be living very long."_

_A growl came from the lord. "Give me…back…my son!" he shot back._

"_Do not worry about your little brat. I will be sure to take very good care of him. There will be instructions sent back to your house, explaining how you can retrieve him. Follow them to the letter and you will be reunited. If not…well, I cannot vouch for this child's safety."_

_And with that, Piccolo turned his back and left the man as his cloak billowed behind him, the whimpers of the child growing more frequently. Though it was soon to get on his nerves, Piccolo couldn't help but wonder how it must've looked to the boy's father, seeing his son's kidnapper walking off with the sounds of the child's fear echoing all about him. It must be excruciating to watch._

_He couldn't have planned it any better._

* * *

><p>Once he had his mission, Gohan had been seized by the guards once more and dragged back to the castle entrance. With a heave, he was tossed out the building, lying in a crumpled heap as the men dusted off their hands and closed the gate behind them. So much for hospitality.<p>

But Gohan had more important things to do than sulk about the way he was treated. He had a surefire way to get Mr. Piccolo out of prison! He'd worry about the stuff that had been said about the green man later; Mr. Piccolo had made sure to care for him all these years, it was the least he could do. If it was true, all that kidnapping stuff, then he would have to make a decision. But until then, it could wait.

Standing back on his feet, Gohan began making his way out of the city. Fortunately before he had been rudely kicked out, the old man…Ro-o-o-o-ski? Rolie? Something like that. The old man had given him some ideas where princesses could be found. One place that caught his attention was far to the east, in mountainous terrain. It was isolated and far from any sort of civilization. If he was right, that location would be the site of one of the towers the upper class had placed their children. If he was fortunate enough, that tower would still be in use.

Hopefully.

As he reached the city walls and the subsequent exit from the city, Gohan came to a very sobering realization: he had no supplies. Nothing, nada, zip; he didn't even have money to buy some. Crap, the least Rolie could do was give him some money or such on this errand. Perhaps he should've made a request? Well, it probably wasn't a good idea to go back at this point. He'd probably be thrown into the cell next to Mr. Piccolo if he did that. He just needed to get to the next village and see if he couldn't receive some help.

The people there couldn't be as rude as the ones here.

* * *

><p>It was a quaint little place, this village. Yeah, Gohan felt a lot better here than the city. Though it looked a lot like the many villages he'd see in his travels, the place was a sight for sore eyes after being in a city. If he ever settled down somewhere, Gohan definitely intended to do it somewhere out here.<p>

But first thing was first. He needed supplies and a very generous heart to give it to him. Okay, okay, he would work for the supplies as Mr. Piccolo had forced him to do over the years. That was a small detail, get off his back!

Spotting a couple of people not too far from him, an older lady and a young girl if he wasn't mistaken, Gohan made his way to them. "Umm, ma'am? May I ask you something?" he asked as he came to them.

Immediately the elderly lady locked eyes on him and gripped the young girl possessively. "Who are you? What do you want?" she demanded, a fury in her eyes Gohan had never seen in someone.

"Uhhh, ummm…ehhh," Gohan stammered out. How did someone respond to that?

Narrowing her eyes at him, she then commented to herself out loud. "You're not from around here, are you?"

Taking that as a question directed at him, Gohan answered "Yes, I'm not from h—"

"I found him! He's right here!" the lady started screaming, pushing the younger girl behind her, acting as some sort of human shield. "I found the pervert!"

Gohan blinked his eyes in bafflement. "P-p-pervert?" he sputtered. Him? A peeping Tom? This just had to be a mistake, yeah, just a mistaken identity!

And that was when a large mob suddenly appeared around him, surrounding and closing off any escape route he had. Oddly enough, there were burning torches amidst the crowd despite it being late afternoon. The appearance of pitchforks and spears being pointed at his body, however, weren't that out of place unfortunately.

Gohan started to get the feeling he was in much trouble.

* * *

><p>Oh what a wonderful day it was to be him, the most handsome man in all the lands! He was a sight for all women to swoon at and a symbol for all of the men to be jealous of. He was tall, had a body of a god, and flowing blond hair that was the envy of all who saw it.<p>

He was Sharpner and yes, he was available ladies.

Today was starting like any other day for him, one that made him proud to be him. The sun was revolving around him, the clouds had been given an off day as he had commanded the previous day, and the very lovely ladies of his village were out and about, just waiting for him to make a move.

And just as his luck would have it, one of the ladies he had been keeping an eye on just happened to leave the shutters of her window open as she was getting dressed. Many a wet dream he had had been proven right by what he witnessed.

But then a slight obstacle had caused a minor bump in his day. Apparently she hadn't left her window open for him to look through and had suddenly started screaming about peeping Toms. He had no idea who this Tom was, or why he was peeping, but he had no right to being looking at the ladies he was interested in. So as his lady screamed bloody murder, he went in search of this Tom, who ever he may be.

Such was the code he lived by, the Code of Sharpner.

And what luck! Though he hadn't been around to see it, the village had finally caught the Tom fellow and had him locked up in that hanging cage of theirs. In the middle of the village was wooden scaffolding and hanging from its wooden beams was a four by four by four foot square cage. Nearby happened to be a noose as well, to give who ever was sitting in that cage an idea of what might happen to him if he wasn't nice in there.

Believe him, he had been a frequent visitor in there.

This time though, a thin, lanky guy was sitting in there, clutching at the wooden bars. He had a weird haircut too, it being black and sticking up in the air. How did someone have hair like that anyways?

"Please! Someone let me out!" the young man, Tom, pleaded in a desperate voice, a look of despair on his face.

"Shaddup, ya pervert!" one of the town folk had replied. Ha! You go…old guy! You tell that Tom guy whose boss!

"But I'm not a pervert! I just got here!" he protested. A likely story. Brushing his hand through his glorious hair, Sharpner couldn't help the smirk that appeared on his face. But enough gloating, he had other things to do, people to bless with his presence and the like.

It was when the sun was setting and Sharpner had been to and left his usual haunts that he found himself back in the middle of the village, that Tom fellow still in the cage, his head resting against the bars despondently. Not one to pass up a chance to make the convicted feel worse about themselves, Sharpner strolled over to the guy and rapped his knuckles against the bars. "Hey Perv, why you looking so glum?"

Tom's head shot up, looking at him gloomily. Softly, he heard the guy say "I shouldn't be here. I…need help."

"You? Help?" the young man scoffed. "Why would you need help?"

"My friend needs me to save him, but I can't in this cage. I'm suppose to be on a mission to help him."

A mission? Riiiiiight, some excuse. Might as well hear him out though, it would make for a good joke later. "And what is this 'mission' you're on?"

"I…I need to go rescue a princess."

Whoa, hold it right there. A princess? One that would be utterly charmed by him were she to gaze upon his indescribably handsomeness? "A princess? Like a royalty person? One that only has to wonder about what dress she wears and can sing so beautifully that birds join her in her song?"

Tom started at him before giving him a shrug. "I guess."

Sharpner's mind was working like a finely-tuned pulley. This was showing some promise. "And this princess, she's a looker, ain't she? Beautiful and just waiting for someone handsome to rescue?"

Tom nodded his head frantically. "Yes!" he said loudly before he cringed from his outburst. "I mean, yes she is. And I need to get out of here to get her."

Sharpner began rubbing his chin thoughtfully, an action he had yet to do before. "Say that I get you out and…oh I don't know, helped you rescue this princess. Think she would just throw herself at our feet and give us a nice reward?"

"I think so. Yeah, she should. I know I would."

Jackpot. "Alright then, I'll help you get out," Sharpner said, seeing the young man light up with hope. "I'll be right back. I need to get a couple tools to help bust you out."

And as he turned to go retrieve his tools, Tom spoke up. "Could you also get some supplies together? Food, water, some money and tools? We'll need them on the trip."

Hey, this guy had a point. Why hadn't he thought of that? "Good idea, Tom. It'll take me a bit, but I'll get us set up. You just wait here."

Tom blinked his eyes. "Umm okay. But my name isn't Tom."

Sharpner waved one of his hands. "What ever you say Tom. I'll be back!" And with that, he was off. This guy just gave him a golden ticket to luxury and a hot babe. Oh yeah, Sharpner, you had it made.

* * *

><p>Fun fact: for those of you unfamiliar with the DBZ manga, the Light of Death is the English translation for the Special Beam Cannon. Not sure why the animators changed the name cause Light of Death sounds awesome, but I suppose they wanted something more kid friendly and as we all know, death is not friendly to kids.<p>

To Mr. Blue22: Meant to reply to you in the review replies about this but kept forgetting. Anyways, most people believe that 4 year old Gohan is dead, so for Roshi and the guards, anyone that would hang around Piccolo couldn't be the kidnapped child. Plus the age difference would hide most similarities, especially if you haven't seen a person in over a decade.

To bvprincess23: Let's see...we've got Roshi...Old Kai...Yamcha...Oolong...oh wait, that's four. My bad lol. To your Gohan-recognition question, I point you to the reply above. To the next question, I would be on Goku's side. If it was my child, I would be just as pissed as he was with the ruling, since more eyes would definitely aid in the search. And don't blame me for the Monkey House thing, they're the ones who chose it lol. And thanks for that last bit of info. It's getting a bit annoying and I hope they fix everything soon.

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	7. Then Met a Self Proclaimed Hero

Well, it seems we all survived the Apocolypse Saturday. Hooray for us! And as a reward to all of you, here's another chapter. I think you've all earned it.

* * *

><p><em>Year658<em>

_The humiliation, the insults, the rage, Lord Piccolo could feel them all. His war, his perfect war, had backfired on him in the most disastrous of ways. The combination of the other three houses had proven too much for his forces and had forced him into surrender. That was when the rending really began._

_Already, the Demon House was in dire financial straits. Now the other three houses wanted reparations for the war, along with an annual levy he had to pay as punishment. At this rate, there was no way his once proud house would recover._

_And as if to add insult to injury, his people were fleeing his lands, leaving him without the basic revenues he need just to operate. People didn't work for free, you know, even if you threatened and tortured them into service. The competent workers tended to disappear when that happened._

_So at wit's end, Lord Piccolo knew his time as Head of the Demons was coming to a close. Unless he turned his fortunes around, it would be his head on the chopping block and he liked to keep his head attached to his neck, thank you very much._

_But how could he turn this around? There wasn't a House, higher or minor, that had survived such a crippling blow as his house had. Everyone single one had dissolved in a matter of years, fading into the annals of history as their lands were claimed by surrounding houses. He refused to give in to that fate that was rushing to it, even as his people had begun to accept it. Lord Piccolo would never accept that, not until his last dying breath._

_The same with his son._

_Yes, he had a son, Lord Piccolo II. He was shaping up into a fine specimen, the perfect balance between physical and magical abilities. He would be a force to reckon with one day, eventually leading the Demon House to even greater heights. But that was at jeopardy due to his…no, the incompetence of his generals. They were the ones to ruin this war for him; it was their faults that they hadn't been ready for the union of the other houses. They should've known what would happen and planned accordingly. They must be punished._

_Later. Right now his house needed to be righted and he would make sure that would happen. But he needed money and that was hard to come by at this point. There was no way the other houses would take pity on him, not after they had rebuffed his previous proposal, and now definitely after this war. If he had to do business with them, he needed a bargaining chip so large they would be willing to negotiate anything with him. Yet he had no such chip and his future was in…_

_Future…_

_Yes, the future was what he needed. A future generation, a child if you wish. Everyone across the lands valued their children, building foundations of prosperity with the ideal of the next generation taking over and making it grander. Any house would do anything to ensure their children were safe and if taken, returned in good condition. But which house? The Ribbon House held no such children currently as their newer members had just come of age. The Turtle house was in a similar position. The Monkey House…they might as well be written off just on principle. It would not be easy to take any such young, if they had one._

_Yet, if one of their young was taken, it would send a message to all that the Demon House was not finished, not as long as it had legs on which it could stand. If it could render one of the most revered houses in history, then there was no telling what he could do. But did they have a child? Was there one they could use for such ends?_

_Let's see…Vegeta IV had a son just coming of age, Vegeta the V, and as far as he knew the younger Vegeta had not yet begun continuing his family line. That would not do. The General Nappa was a life-long bachelor with no illegitimates. The Lord Paragus was like Vegeta, the same with Lord Bardock and his two sons._

_Wait, if he remembered correctly, one of Bardock's sons had been wed prior to his audience before the war. In fact, he believed they were expecting at the time. So that would making any child they had…around three. Yes, yes, they would do just fine._

"_Servant!" he called out, one of his many appearing soon after. "Summon my son. I need his council."_

* * *

><p>"'Wait here' he says," Gohan grumbled as he sat in his cage. "As if I could go anywhere else. What's taking him so long?"<p>

It had been quite awhile since the blond guy had run off. Gohan knew to gather some supplies and the stuff he needed to break him out would take some time, but if he were right, the guy was taking his sweet time going about it. The moon was already at the top of its path, about to begin its descent. If the blond didn't show up soon, Gohan was gonna have to come up with some other plan.

That was when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching him. "Hey! You're still here!" he heard the blond's voice say.

Gohan couldn't help sweatdropping on that one. Seriously, where could he have gone? It wasn't like he could get out of his cage and get something to eat. "Yeah, I'm here," he decided on saying. No need to alienate his only chance of escape.

He watched as the guy walked to the back of the cage, holding something in his hand. A moment later and the young man heard some sort of rattling sound. "What are you doing back there?" Gohan asked.

A louder screeching sound was heard and the blond man said "Got it." Looking behind him, Gohan saw one of the wooden bars was missing, the bar itself in the man's hands. Dropping it to the ground, he began working on the next bar.

"You seem to know what you're doing," Gohan commented.

"Yep, I've had my fair share of stays in this cage. Always being framed for stuff, of course, but once you figure out what tools you need and the best place to carry them, it's easy as pie to get out of."

For a moment, Gohan's mind stalled on the "best place to carry them" part. "Uhh, what do you mean 'best place'?"

"Well, they check all the obvious places for anything that could get you out: your shirt, your boots, your pants. I found it best to keep a couple things up my butt; it's the only place they don't check."

Though he couldn't make out what tool the man was using, Gohan got the feeling he didn't want to know what it was. Just thinking about the previous sentence was giving him the willies. "Is that what took you so long to get back?" he asked meekly.

"Nah, I always have a supply of bran in my house. It was getting all that food and tool stuff you wanted. Found a place outside of town to stash it too. That way we can start my journey immed—"

The same screeching sound was made then, the wooden bar the man was working with coming out. "There we go. You should be able to fit right through." Eagerly, Gohan scrawled to the gap, slipping through it with a little trouble. However, his legs didn't seem to want to cooperate once he stood outside the cage; he even staggered once he put his weight on them. Yeah, they were asleep. Time to wake up legs!

Looking back at his new friend, Gohan saw him putting the bars back in place. "Alright, it's time for us to go Tom."

Gohan frowned. Why did this guy keep calling him that? "But my name's not Tom, its Gohan."

The blond looked at him oddly. "What a dumb name. I mean, if you want to be called something different Tom, that's okay, but at least choose something better."

Gohan could feel a headache working its way from the back of his head. Please don't let this be the whole journey for them. "What's your name?" he decided to say in an attempt to change the subject. "I don't think I caught it."

The look on the man's face was like a child getting a present from his parents—completely ecstatic. "I am the one and only Sharpner. But you can call me Sharpner."

Gohan blinked. And he said _his_ name was bad? Really, who would name their kids…uhh…what was his name again? Sharper? Charmer? Well, who would name their kid that? Parents today, he swore. "Perhaps we should get going. We don't want anyone catching—"

"Hey, who's over there!" a voice called out.

Both men froze. This was not going to end well.

* * *

><p>It had been a very close call, for both Gohan and Sharpner. Upon being discovered, the two had to flee a very large, very angry mob, pitchforks and torches included. They had spent the better part of the night running, hiding, and sneaking around until the villagers gave up, collapsed into heaps from exhaustion, grew bored, or were surprisingly attacked by wild animals. Yep, you couldn't script a chase scene like the one they had.<p>

That's why the entire sequence has been edited out.

It was day once more, though a few days since their incredible escape. Once they had managed to find the packs of supplies Sharpner had stashed out there, the two were on the road, making their way to the beautiful princess that was in need of rescuing.

Unfortunately, there had been one small item that Sharpner had forgotten to pack. Being as they were two traveling men, they were prime targets for thieves and people of ill-intent. A couple swords would've been very lovely to have for protection, but as of yet, they hadn't had a run-in with the more unsavory people. If they were lucky enough, they would get to the next village and get something for future travels.

Gohan wasn't holding his breath that their luck would go so well.

And if that wasn't bad on its own, Sharpner seemed to have this need to talk for as long and often as possible. It wasn't like he had something good or important to say; most of it was all about him and how great he was, or how great he would be. Or what comprised the greatness that was himself.

"And that's how I managed to fend off not one, not two, but five men with a mere wave of my hair."

See what he meant?

"But…uhh, Shaper, I thought it was three men," Gohan said.

"It's Sharpner, get it right. And did I say three men? Sorry, I meant six," Sharpner said. "Yep, they were six of the most savage brutes I have ever met. They had raped, pillaged, and done all sorts of bad things until they met me. Why, if it weren't for me, they would still be doing all of that other stuff. You see, I am what they call a hero. It's a lonely way of life, but someone has to do it. But they aren't always alone! Some heroes even have sidekicks! And since every hero needs a sidekick, I've decided to make you my sidekick. How do you feel about that Tom?"

"That's…nice," Gohan said. And then there was that Tom name. Why was this guy so insistent on calling him Tom anyways? If it was payback because he kept getting his name wrong, then it was very childish. He couldn't help if he had a hard time remembering names! Moving around as much as he had, he only really needed to know Mr. Piccolo, sir, ma'am, and that was about it.

"Um, Sharpner?" (hey, he got it right!) Gohan said hesitantly. "Why do you keep calling me Tom? My name's Gohan."

Sharpner rolled his eyes. "Because that's what all the villagers were calling you. You were peeping after all."

Wait, peeping? Tom? Peeping Tom? Was he being accused of looking at girls dressing and undressing? "But I wasn't peeping!" the young man protested. "I just got to the village that afternoon and everyone just pointed a finger at me!"

Sharpner straightened out his posture, his mind working as fast as it could. "So you're telling me that you've been framed? That's not right! No worries Tom…I mean Gohan, when we get our princess, I'll help you clear your name! After all, what would a hero be if he didn't help out his sidekick?"

At first, Gohan felt relief that someone believed him. The next thing he felt was insecurity. Did he really want this blond guy helping him clear his good name?

"Now onward, Sidekick! We haven't a moment to lose!" Sharpner declared before he began running ahead. Unfortunately, due to the pack on his back shifting side to side because of his running motions, Sharpner soon lost his balance and fell face first into the ground.

Hmm, perhaps he needed to clear his name on his own.

* * *

><p>To bvprincess23: To be fair, you could make an insult out of anything. All you need is the right imaginationAnd you doubt Gohan innocence? He's just a boy who has certain curiosities!/ I think Sharpner's getting over the Tom name, but with his self-centeredness, I'm pretty sure he'll come up with another name lol/btw, I'll be using the / so seperate responses to each of your remarks. Help to keep things organized, I suppose.

To nameless reviewing: Thanks!

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	8. They Found a House Made of Sweets

Alright, that's it. That was the last time he put Sharpner in charge of making sure they had enough food for their trip.

Gohan and Sharpner were starving. As they trudged their way through a peaceful looking forest, their stomachs rumbled and complained of their emptiness. It was almost comical the way their bellies would growl one after the other, almost as if saying "Feed…Me…"

To be fair, Sharpner had put in plenty of food when they had first started their journey. It was when they arrived at the last village that the blond had said he would take care of getting them restocked and promptly forgot about the food when he laid eyes on one of the ladies in the market place. They had been rationing out the last of their food when they found this out and had just run out the day before.

It was enough to make a full-grown man cry.

"I know…what you're thinking," Sharpner said as he resisted another stomach pang. "This is somehow…all my fault…well, I have news for you. This will only…make us stronger."

Gohan resisted the groan that was working its way from his throat. For the last couple of days, this is all that Sharpner had been doing, sticking up for himself because of his error. "And how could this possibly make us stronger?"

"Simple. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. That's what all the wise people say."

"Well, I bet none of those people had starved before saying that."

"No worries. We are a hero and a sidekick. It's only natural that we face hardships along our travels."

"Are any of those hardships ones that could be easily avoided?"

"I don't see why you have to be so negative."

Instead of responding to that, Gohan felt he had to be the bigger man and shut up. His stomach would do all the talking for him though, growling once more. As the two continued their trek deeper into these woods, Gohan's nose began to twitch. Huh? What was this aroma he was smelling? It was delightful! Picking up his pace, he began searching for the source of the smell.

And then he found it. Nestled in a grove of trees was a house that appeared to be made of sweets. Chocolate bars, cakes, gumdrops, candy canes, you name it, it was there. There was even a fence made of pocky surrounding the place. Coming up to the fence, the two encountered a mail box that looked delicious to the eyes. Stopping at it, they stared at the box for some time before they began reaching for it.

"Hello strangers! Can you please help us?"

Both young men let out little shrieks as they spun around, finding two little children staring at them innocently with wide crystal blue eyes. They were oddly dressed in similar clothes, particularly shorts that had straps that went over their shoulders. "Who the heck are you!" Sharpner spoke as he got over his surprise.

"We are brother and sister who are lost in these woods," the boy answered with a strange accent. "I am Tonsil and this is my sister Kettle. Do you two live here? Your house looks very delicious."

"You're lost? What the hell are you two doing lost in the woods? Go back home before we tell your parents!"

The blonde-haired children shrieked in fear before running off the way Gohan and Sharpner had come from. "And don't let me catch you out here again!" Sharpner shouted after then, shaking one of his fists in the air. Turning back to the mailbox, he simply said to Gohan, "You have to be firm with kids these days. If I could, I'd spank them, but noooo, their parents would whine and complain and say I'm abusing their kids and..."

He trailed off as his stomach growled again. Gohan didn't feel up to continuing that subject as he too felt his stomach growl. Again, their attentions turned to the mailbox and they stared at it for some time before they reached out to it.

And like its appearance, the mailbox was soft and moist. A cake mailbox! Tearing off chucks, the two started stuffing their faces with the cake, their mouths filling with saliva and cakey goodness. Before either knew it, they were sitting on the ground, rubbing their semi-satisfied stomachs in content.

Then their attention moved onto the house.

"You know, we should save some of this house," Sharpner said, a predatory glint in his eyes. Though normally against such blatant disregard for someone else's property, Gohan couldn't help but nod his head in agreement. One would do many unconventional things when hungry.

Tearing apart the fence close to them, they put many pieces of the pocky fence in their packs. Looking around, they began making their way to the front door, intent on getting many different pieces of the house as they could.

It was as they were chowing down on the cotton candy welcome mat that the door opened, revealing the strangest of sights. An old woman dressed in a long black robe and pointy hat stared at them with large eyes. If she was a pretty woman, time had not done her any favors as wrinkly aged skin covered her face and hands, the only parts of her visible. Pink hair sprouted out from the bottom of her hat, or at least that was the appearance of it. She seemed to be a small woman too, though it was hard to tell since she was sitting on top of a large crystal ball, the ball floating in midair.

The two young men blinked at her, their mouths overloaded with the welcome mat. "My, you two are hungry," she commented, sounding very amused. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

It was several moments before either youth could do anything, much less think of something to say. Eventually, Gohan swallowed what was in his mouth and said "I'm sorry we're eating your house. It's just we were starving and found this place and—"

The old crone waved off his apology. "Don't worry about that; it happens all the time. In fact, your damage is pretty miniscule compared to some of the people that have tried to eat my house."

Gohan and Sharpner looked at each, then looked back. "Mini-what?" Sharpner asked.

"Small, insignificant."

They both nodded their head then. "Umm, is there any way we can trouble you for some food? It would be much appreciated," Gohan inquired.

The old lady gave a thin smile, a gleam appearing in her eye. "Come inside, I'll see what I can fix you up with."

Before the two knew it, they were inside the candy-built house, sitting at a wooden table, surprised that it wasn't made of candy as well. In fact, there were several bit marks all over it, indicating that others had had the same thoughts. "This is very kind of you to help us ma'am," Gohan thanked as he looked about the place.

"Oh, you don't have to call me ma'am," the woman said from somewhere in the house. Then as if magically appearing out of thin air, she was next to the lads. "I am the Fortune Teller Baba, a collector of mystical items." Waving her hand in front of her, the table in front of them was soon covered in foods that made the boys drool on sight. Roasted chicken, gravy-covered potatoes, various sauces, breads and cheeses, and other such foods that would make a starving man cry. In fact, Gohan and Sharpner had trails of tears running down their cheeks as they drooled over the beautiful sight.

"Go ahead, enjoy yourselves. There will be a small fee you'll owe me but we can discuss that—"

Baba came to a stop, blinking her eyes dumbfounded. Her guests hadn't let her finish her lines as they dug through the food. It was…disgusting to watch as they shoved as much food into their gullets as possible. Pieces of food flew through the air, hitting the walls and floors with wet splats. For a moment, Baba looked as if she were seriously considering not eating for quite a long time.

Then as sudden as it had appeared, the eating-frenzy stopped, both lads resting in their chairs, they stomachs extending out, pushing their shirts up to reveal their naked bellies. Belches would sound off as they both seem to droop into sleep.

That was until Baba coughed harshly, waking them up slightly. "As I was saying, there is the matter of a fee for this food."

That seemed to jolt Sharpner out of his daze. "Fee? What fee? You didn't mention anything about a fee!"

"Well, I was until you ignored me and plowed through my refreshments. That was utterly disgusting, might I add."

"Well, we aren't paying. You were the one that just put the food right in front of us. You should've mentioned a fee from the beginning."

This time, both Gohan and Baba blinked at the blond. For once, Gohan had to admit that Sharpner had said something intelligently. Though he felt a bit bad for taking advantage of an old lady's hospitality, she did fail to mention any consequence of their eating her food. Baba seemed to be thinking on the same wavelength as she growled a very naughty word. Then she said "Fair enough. I should've mentioned it earlier. But now, may I ask why you are in these woods? It's not often I have company out here."

Sharpner sat back in his chair, a smug look on his face. "Go on Sidekick, tell her our story."

And there was the return of the Sharpner he knew all too well of. "Well, it's like this. A friend of mine is being held captive and I have been given the mission of rescuing a princess for his freedom. Sharpner helped me out of a jam a couple villages ago and has joined me in rescuing the princess."

"And if it weren't for me, my sidekick would be utterly lost trying to find the princess," Sharpner added. "That is one of my many reasons for helping him out."

"Umm, I was actually going to come through here," Gohan corrected.

"Like I said, you would be utterly lost."

"My, quite a story," Baba commented, her amused expression returning. "Though if I may ask, where is this princess you seek?"

"She's far to the east, in a mountain range I believe."

Baba pursed her withered lips. "So you wish to find that princess, huh? Perhaps I could be of some assistance."

Once again, Gohan and Sharpner found themselves looking at each other in confusion and returning their attention back to the old crone. "Do you mean you could help us?" Gohan asked.

"Well you see, I have in my possession an object that could take you straight to the princess you seek. It would give you a shortcut, so to speak."

Both lads leaned closer to her, wanting to hear more. "And what is this object?" Sharpner asked in awe.

Baba seemed to enjoy the attention she was getting. "It is in the form of a blanket. I wish it were something of a less childish appearance, like a cloak or robe, but it is a blanket that when the user covers himself fully with and then removes it he is at the location that he desires."

"Could we use this blanket?" Gohan asked hopefully.

"For a small fee, I'll give it to you to use as you please," Baba replied.

"Can you give us one moment?" Sharpner asked, then without waiting for a reply grabbed Gohan by his shirt and pulled him over the table, dragging him to a wall a small distance away. "Did you hear what she said?" Sharpner hissed to him excitedly. "We can get to this princess in an instant! Our journey would be over before we knew it!"

"I can still hear you," Baba said from the table, looking a bit annoyed.

Sharpner easily ignored her. "I'm positive we could afford any price she asks. What have you got on you?"

Gohan picked himself off the ground before replying "Perhaps we should hear her price first. Then we can make our decision."

Sharpner rolled his eyes. "Fine, we'll do it your way."

Moving back to the table, Sharpner trudging behind him, Gohan said "I'm sorry about my…friend, Ms. Baba. Umm, would you mind telling us how much this blanket will cost?"

A smirk worked its way onto her old face. Motioning him closer, Baba leaned forward until her lips were barely separated from the young man's ear. Whispering into his ear, Gohan's eyes went wide, his face paling. When Baba moved back, Gohan turned to Sharpner, his movements jerky. Leaning to Sharpner, he then whispered the price to him.

For a moment, Sharpner just stared into space. Then he blanched. "You've got to be kidding me! That's outrageous!" Turning his sights onto the old crone, he demanded "I demand a haggle!"

Baba leaned her head to a side, inserting one of her cubby fingers into her ear, twisting and turning it, she said "I'm sorry, my hearing isn't what it use to be. Will you accept my fee or will you pass?"

Sharpner glared at her, or at least tried to. He wasn't really the intimidating sort, mind you. Eventually, he said "Do you have a bathroom I could use?"

Baba blinked at the young man while Gohan found it to be his turn to blanch once more. "Umm, it's right over there," Baba pointed to door. A moment later and Sharpner had disappeared into it.

By the time he had reappeared, Gohan was dozing off and Baba was muttering irritably to herself. Upon hearing the bathroom door squeal, she jerked to her to look at him, glaring at his person. "How long does it take to use the bathroom? Honestly, you better have kept the seat down too!"

Sharpner, to his credit, didn't seem fazed by her reprimand. He was red in the face, panting slightly. Walking with a noticeable limp, he placed a fist-sized nugget of gold on the table. "Will this…be good enough…for a trade?"

Baba stared at the rock in amazement. Looking at it from every angle, she said to herself in awe "I've never seen one this big before." So consumed by the sparkly metal, she failed to see splotches of brown every so often. However, her nose made sure she was aware that something wasn't right. "Oh Kami, what is that smell? It's terrible!"

"Will you give us the blanket?" Sharpner demanded. "Or should I take my gold back?"

Baba stared at the nugget before saying "Fine, it's yours." Waving her hand once more, a blue quilted blanket appeared on the table. "Use it to your heart's content."

Huffing, Sharpner began limping his way to the front door. "Sidekick, get the blanket and our packs."

Hanging his head, Gohan got up and retrieved their things, heading to the door soon after. As he was closing the door behind him, he couldn't help notice Baba closely inspecting the gold nugget. It was then he saw her stick her tongue out and moved to press it against the rock. Shuddering, Gohan closed the door and made his way to Sharpner, who had surprisingly gotten outside the fence.

When he got to him, Gohan was surprised once more to see Sharpner walking without a limp. "Umm, Sharpner? What happened to your limp?"

The blond looked at him and said haughtily "This isn't the first time I've removed something from my anus."

Fair enough.

Handing him his pack, the two then inspected the blanket. "So we just put this over us and we'll be at the princess's," Sharpner said. When Gohan nodded his head, he snorted. "This is gonna look so stupid."

"Well, we bought it," Gohan said. "We might as well use it."

Standing next to each other, they covered themselves with the blanket. It was larger than either had expected as it came pretty close to touching the ground, despite the two of them and their packs taking up a lot of room. After standing there for a few seconds, they finally removed the blanket.

And found themselves standing in front of the cage that Sharpner had busted Gohan out. Staring at it in disbelief, it wasn't until a piece of paper floated down in front of them that caused them to look at anything other than the cage. Looking at the paper, they saw a drawing of Baba, her tongue stick out as one of her fingers pulled down one of her lower eyelids.

"That old lady tricked us!" Sharpner shrieked. "How can I, a hero, be conned like that! This is all your fault, Sidekick!"

"Umm, Sharpner, if we're at the cage you freed me from, does that mean…"Gohan trialed off. As realization struck the youths, they slowly turned around, the two seeing the villagers frozen in their tracks, staring back at them in disbelief.

Then one of the villagers shouted "The perverts are back!"

The next thing Gohan and Sharpner knew, they were running out of the village as fast as their legs could carry them, the large mob of torch and pitchfork-carrying people hot on their trail. Why did this have to happen to them?

* * *

><p>To Nameless Reviewer: Glad you're enjoying it. Plenty more to come.<p>

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	9. Where an Old Witch Lived

Hey guys, I was hoping to save this for a later chapter, but I have an announcement to make. There is fanart of this story on DeviantArt, courtesy of Ms. Videl Son. The reason I haven't mentioned them until now is that there are **MAJOR SPOILERS** for the story. I was actually waiting until one particular scene came up to make the announcement, but regardless I will point out each fanart that appears in each chapter when they occur. Not all fanarts will be used, but there are obvious ones that will be.

Anyways, MVS has begun making fanarts of each Chapter for the story. As of right now, Chapters 1 through 5 are up and with more to come. You can find all the fan and chapter arts in my DA favorites gallery, under the ShadowMajin account name, or you can go to MVS's art gallery page on her account megaminoeien. Her arts are really awesome, but once again, **MAJOR SPOILERS** ahead.

* * *

><p><em>Year 658<em>

_The layout of the Monkey House laid on the table, the two green demons standing over it, examining every room and hallway indicated on it. If the plan they were concocting were to succeed, every detail needed to be perfect. Knowing what each room was used for, who would be in them, where they would be at a particular time, nothing could be left up for chance. With operatives in the Monkey House reporting to them daily the activities occurring within the house, they had a pretty good idea of how to go about their plan._

"_Let us go over it again," the elder demon said, not looking at his younger counterpart._

"_I enter the house through the servants' entrance," the young demon said, pointing at the entrance on the map. "From there I use the corridors the servants use so as to remain hidden from the general populous, bypassing the lords and guards." His finger followed the very corridors he mentioned until he reached a certain point. "Here I will enter the main hall and make my way to these apartments." Here his finger circled around the rooms in which he spoke. "If our intelligence is correct, the child should be in this room, sleeping. It should be a simple matter to remove him from the room and return to the servants' corridors. I will then retrace my steps back to the servants' entrance and withdraw from the house."_

"_And if you run into anyone during the mission?"_

"_I leave none alive. No witnesses to warn others of my presence."_

_At this point, the elder demon finally looked at the younger demon. "Worry only for your mission, care for no one. The only thing that matters is restoring the pride of the Demon House, understood? Do what ever it takes to accomplish this goal." Raising one of his hands, he rested it on the other's shoulder._

_The younger demon shrugged off the hand. "I know what needs to be done, old man. I will not fail."_

_The elder merely smirked. "Then be on your way. You know what will happen should your mission be anything other than success."_

"_And I repeat, I will not fail. Unless you have something more constructive to say, do not bother using your tongue."_

_The elder scowled. "I will allow such impudence to go unpunished for now, but you will address me with the proper respect in the future, child."_

_The younger turned his back on the elder deliberately. "What ever you say, Lord Piccolo."_

* * *

><p>It had taken awhile, but Gohan and Sharpner were back in Baba's woods, storming their way to her candy-made house. Well, it was Sharpner doing the storming mostly, Gohan just followed a few paces back. It was best he let the blond work out his anger on his own. He already let loose a little on those Tonsil and Kettle kids they had met earlier. Apparently they hadn't left the woods yet, which turned out to be very bad. They were left crying after Sharpner threatened to give them beauty tips for their hair, though for some reason the blond thought he was being nice to them. Very odd.<p>

"Where is that old witch?" Sharpner muttered to himself, his eyes looking from side to side. "I'll make her hurt so much, her arthritis will feel like a blessing!"

Gohan felt he needed speak up at this moment, at least to try and reason with the pissed off blond. "You do know she's a magic user, right? She won't be that easy to beat."

Sharpner stopped in his tracks and turned to glare at him. "And that's supposed to mean what exactly?"

"You saw how she could summon things with a wave of her hand. She probably knows more powerful spells that won't be nice to experience and can get several of them off before we could even touch her."

For a moment, it looked as if Gohan's explanation had hit a stone wall, with Sharpner making no sense of it. And then a light bulb switched on. "So you're saying we need a plan. Alright, I'll distract her with a full frontal assault while you sneak up from behind her and knock her out. Then we can raid the place and get out before she wakes up. A brilliant idea, Sidekick, brilliant!"

Gohan sighed. Why did he even try to reason with this guy? He couldn't help the sense of doom he felt would occur with this so-called "plan."

"There's her house!" he heard the blond exclaimed, causing the young man to focus on the present. Indeed there was Baba's house, her mailbox and part of her fence still missing. Yet from this distance, he could see a group of people at the old crone's doorstep, talking with her about something. The closer the two got, the more they could make out what the witch was saying.

"And with these apples in my possession, you'll be able to delay old age for nearly a decade. Just eat one apple once every ten years and you'll stay young until the day you die, if that were to happen at all. All you have to do is pay me a small fee and you shall have them at your beck and call."

Was…was she trying to scam more people? What did those apples really do? Make people act like children? Turn them into newts, in which there was no getting better from? No, they had to save them the dire consequences that were up this witch's sleeves.

And Sharpner was the one to do it. "Don't listen to her!" he shouted at Baba's latest suckers. "She's only trying to trick you with fake apples! They'll poison you and make your children take care of you because your health coverage refused to pay out!"

Gohan had to pause at that. What in the world was health coverage? Was that the best he could come up with?

"And then your children will be forced to put you in an old people's home where other old people will drive you insane with their constant complaining of how young folks shouldn't play really loud music! She's the devil, I tell you, the devil!"

Okay, Sharpner had to be making this stuff up. A home for old people, pfft. The next thing he would say would have to do with carriages that didn't need horses to pull them. Better yet, a small capsule that you could put anything you wanted into and it would fit! Even a house! Truly a preposterous idea.

Yet, what ever Sharpner said seemed to frighten the people at Baba's doorstep. After declining her offer, they quickly left the house. This didn't please Baba in the least. "What are you two trying to do? Ruin me?" she shouted at them, a pissed expression on her face. "I almost had their money in my grasp until you two dolts showed up!"

"Hey, you're the one that sold us a bad blanket," Sharpner shot back, moving into the fenced off area, Gohan right behind him. "We want our money back!"

"I don't do refunds! You shouldn't have bought the blanket in the first place!"

"So you admit you're a scam artist!"

Baba paused for a moment before her face began to red in anger. Her face was so red, Gohan began to wonder if her head would explode. "That's it! I've had enough out of you two ruffians! I'm…I'm going to turn you into monkeys if it's the last thing I do!"

And as those words left her lips, an ominous aura appeared around the witch. What would be best described as a growing darkness spread from her body, shrouding everything around her, except for her person, in blackness. The sky itself began to cloud over with dark storm clouds, thunder rumbling within them. Then in a demonic voice, the witch said "Feel my wrath, simpletons! A…."

That is when the witch stopped in her tracks, her eyes looking to one side in concentration. "A…" she tried again, stopping once more. "Dang it, what was that spell again?"

Gohan and Sharpner couldn't help but fall down on that one. For a moment there, they were actually afraid of this old lady. I mean, who would want to be a monkey for the rest of their lives?

As they got up, they noticed that Baba's menacing aura had completely disappeared. The sky was back to its normal self and the sun was shinning on everything once more. The only thing different was Baba as she scratched her head irritable. "I should know this spell like the back of my toe warts," she muttered to herself. "I just turned that one lad into a monkey last week! Where's my spell book?"

Taking her hat off her head, she reached into it, searching for something. When she pulled her hand out, a small hand mirror with a man's face reflecting from it was in her grasp. "No, that's not it." Tossing it aside, she dug into her hat again, pulling out a sword that seemed to hum a beautiful tune. "That's not it either." Throwing that away too, Baba, searched into her hat pulling out and tossing aside a lyre of pure gold, an old shoe that seemed to hold many small children in it, a lizard of some kind, and a small box that said "Dragonball Z Collector's Set" on it. Finally, she pulled out an oversized book that was nearly the size of her frail body. On its cover the words "Witch Spells for Dummies" were inscribed in it. "Here it is!" she exclaimed eagerly. Opening it, she flipped through the pages until she found the spell she was seeking. Grinning manically, she slammed the book shut and tossed it back into her hat, placing it back on her head. "Now, back to business," she said, her aura and dark clouds returning. "Feel my wrath, simpletons! A—"

And that's where she stopped once more, her eyes bulging out of her sockets. Gohan and Sharpner were nowhere in sight, a flickering outline of their bodies stood where they previously wore. "What? Where did you go? Come back here you cowards!" she shouted as she looked about the area. Sadly, she didn't see them anywhere, much to her frustration. "Just wait until I get my hands on them," she growled to herself as she returned to her less demonic features. "Well, what can't be helped, can't be helped."

Reaching into her robe, she brought out several white envelops. "It's about time that I began my mail-order plan anyways. I can't wait to see how many people send me their money for—"

And for the nth time that day, Baba came to a stop. Where was her mailbox? How was she supposed to mail these things if she didn't have a mailbox? That was the purpose of committing mail fraud after all!

Then her attention caught sight of the remains of her fence. Her fence too? Who would do such a thing? Honestly, what was this world coming to? It was as if her brother was running the world and had laid off all the maintenance guys. Knowing him, he would do such a thing just to piss her off.

Wait a minute, there was never any maintenance guys that would fix up her house every time someone tried to eat it. In fact, she always interrupted someone who was chewing on her window shutters or swallowing her bushes whole. She had come upon that group of travelers she had been previously conning when they were about to start eating her walkway. In fact, she still hadn't gotten around to replacing her welcome mat from those two idiots that had…

Wait…they didn't just eat her welcome mat, did they?

Not once, but twice those two blockheads had interfered with her work! This was unacceptable! This was…this was…

From all the anger and frustration she had felt that day, Baba did the only thing she could do. She screamed at the top of her lungs so loud, that the glaze that made up her windows cracked and the birds in the gumdrop trees fled in terror.

* * *

><p>"We sure showed that old witch a thing or two, didn't we?" Sharpner gloated as he shadowboxed along the trail. "I told you we would make a great team, didn't I?"<p>

Gohan sighed for the umpteenth time that day. "Sharpner, all we did was run away from her while she was looking for that book of hers. I don't think that means we're—"

"Quit thinking negatively!" Sharpner scoffed. "We surprised her with a strategic retreat is all. She would never expect that!"

Almost as if in answer, the two heard a loud scream echoing form deep within the woods, a flock of birds squawking as they fled into the skies. As the two looked back the way they came, they suddenly started feeling antsy. "Perhaps we should hurry up a little," Sharpner suggested as he began picking up his pace. "We don't want to overstay our welcome here."

Gohan merely sped up his own pace in agreement. When you're right, you're right.

* * *

><p>RyRy tested; MaMa approved.<p> 


	10. They Escaped to a Tower

_Year 659_

_Lord Goku sat before the gathered audience, his body heavily bandaged. Even one of his arms had been put into a slight, though no damage had been done to it. The healers wanted to make sure no excess movement he made would cause his wound to reopen. Though they had protested that he come here, Goku had been determined to show himself._

_It had been a week since the kidnapping of his son, a week's worth of recovery that even he knew was not enough to allow him to search for his son once more. His wife had fallen into a deep depression, seeming to not even recognize anything in front of her. Many a time a maid had spoken to her and she had not reacted, only looking at them confused when they finally got her attention. It was devastating to him to see such despair._

_And so Gero, the Stewart of the Head House, convened an audience with the three remaining Higher Houses, the Demon House being in the process of becoming a Minor House had not been invited. Good. Goku didn't need to hear their protests when he announced he knew who was responsible for the wound in his side._

_So far, the Houses had gone on an endless cycle of wanting to find the one responsible for the current state of affairs. Each, especially the Monkey House, wanted justice for what had happened, though Goku felt the other two were only paying lip service. Though a child was taken from his bed was reprehensible to them, he truly doubted they were as willing as his House to do something about it. But if they did lend help, he would not refuse it. The more that sought for his son, the better chance they had at recovering him._

_Gero watched the proceedings the whole time, not making a sound. As the current representative ended his "demand" to have the stolen child found, the old man raised one of his hands to silence the audience. "It would seem the council is in agreement of what must be done. Each House will supply volunteers to recover the missing Monkey child. Other resources will be given to the operation as well."_

_A loud applause came from the Monkey House, their sign of approval for the plan. As Gero called for silence, Lord Goku took this opportunity to make himself heard. "If I may have the floor?" he requested._

_Gero looked surprised for a moment before he said "Lord Goku, I was not aware of your presence here. If there are no objections, the floor will indeed be yours."_

_When no one expressed their opposition, Goku limped to the middle of the chamber, a pulsing burn in his side. Once he had himself calmed, Lord Goku said "I know who is responsible for my son's kidnapping."_

_Immediately, hushed whispers echoed throughout the room. "Why did you not mentioned this at an earlier date?" Gero inquired, his eyes narrowing, his tone serious. "It would have saved this court's precious time and allowed us to procede more productively."_

"_I have been in less than ideal condition to inform anyone," the Monkey Lord said. "Such claim would have been labeled as the ramblings by the healers and subsequent visitors I have had since my return." Steeling his nerves, Lord Goku announced his belief. "It was the son of the Demon House Head. I saw his face before he left me for dead, taking my son with him."_

_A period of silence fell on the court. _"_This is a grave allegation," Gero responded eventually. "Though I have no doubt you are telling the truth, I must insist on verifying the Demon Lord's absence at his father's side. We do not want to lay waste on the wrong people the justice that should go to the perpetrator."_

"_He used a spell to blow a hole through my brother and I!" Lord Goku shouted, his anger evident in his voice. "Do you know of any other weapon that could cause such damage?"_

"_If it is true what you say Monkey Lord, then a quick check will not change the outcome. Would you like the blood of innocents on our hands just because you pointed at the wrong people?"_

_Yes! Goku would tear this kingdom apart if that meant having his son back. But if he said as much, his testimony would be tossed aside like trash, labeled as the ravings of a distraught parent. He needed to keep his head calm if he were to have his child restored to him. "If that is what this council agrees to, I will abide by it. You must understand my feelings for immediate action."_

"_There is not a Lord here that does not sympathize with you, Lord Goku," Gero replied. "If we must, we will tear the Demon House apart, brick by brick, to return your son to you. In the meantime, I suggest you develop some patience. We cannot show that the Higher Houses will attack at random because of a wrong done to them. Though powerful as they are, the Higher Houses are outnumbered by the Minor Houses and they may strike out on their own in self-defense, thus weakening each House in turn. I will not divide these lands any more than they already are."_

_Lord Goku bowed his head in acceptance of the rebuke. There were more important things about than keeping his pride intact. For his son's welfare, he would swallow it to the deepest pits of hell._

_He had no choice but to do so._

* * *

><p>Gohan couldn't have been happier to see mountains in his entire life. Usually they meant that he had a lot of climbing to do, sometimes over such traitorous terrain that one false move would lead to a very nasty death. Obviously, his current state of living was proof he had overcome them.<p>

Now though, they represented a step closer to freeing Mr. Piccolo, the man that had blindly led them to such places. It was only a matter of time before they found the tower that held the princess he sought. It was a giddy feeling he had to admit.

He and Sharpner had only been in them for a day and though the young man still felt the excitement of being halfway done with his quest, the blond was less than thrilled. Though they were on a relatively safe mountain trail that weaved its way between the mountain bases, Sharpner had not stopped complaining since they had woken up that morning. "Stupid, bloody mountains," he muttered. "Why do they have to be so bloody filled with rocks? They kept poking my in my sides all night long. And I almost twisted an ankle on one."

Gohan, for his part, did his best to ignore the grumblings. If he let Sharpner's attitude annoy him long enough, he'd be feeling the same way soon. So in order to keep that from happening, the young man focused on finding any man-made structures. That would surely be where a princess would be kept, unless the builders got lazy and just used a cave. That would suck so much, since there was no telling how many caves were littered in this mountain range.

Thankfully though, there hadn't been any caves in sight so that shot down that possibility. He hoped that way, anyways. Otherwise, this searching was going to get old very fast. And with Sharpner still complaining, there was no telling how much longer he could resist the urge to climb a mountain and push the blond off. Gohan was pretty sure Mr. Piccolo would do something like that.

Eventually, they found a small, peaceful-looking meadow, a bit surprising since they were in the mountains. Grassy plains spread out in all directions, reaching to the base of the mountains surrounding it. Flowers grew at various places here, especially around a crystal-clear pond. Small, rolling hills interrupted the flat landscape here and there, creating small ledges at various points.

And towards the other side of the vale was a tall, stone tower, sticking out like a sore thumb. Both young men lit up when they saw it. "There it is! The princess is there!" Sharpner exclaimed, sounding excited for the first time since yesterday. "I'll race you there! Last one to the tower is a smelly old fart!"

Immediately, Sharpner dashed towards the tower, fully intent on getting to it first. Unfortunately, the blond hadn't realized that the two of them had been standing on one of the rolling hills here and ran right off of it, a small high-pitched cry coming from him before he landed face first on the ground.

Running to him, Gohan looked over the edge and found Sharpner lying facedown in the ground, his arms and legs spread out from his body. That must've hurt.

Jumping down, Gohan picked Sharpner's upper body off the ground, seeing a large clump of grass stuck in his mouth. Spitting them out, the blond began wiping his mouth of dirt and other blades of grass. "Perhaps we should just walk over there?" Gohan suggested, sounding very amused.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Sharpner grumbled as he stood up. Though it took longer, the two eventually arrived at the tower, looking at its cylindrical appearance, a pointed, shingled roof sitting at its top. There were windows at various places, but for the most part, the place looked fairly boring.

Except for that one window towards the top that had long golden hair hanging out of it.

The two men had immediately got to the hair and stared at it in wonder. Who knew that someone could grow their hair that long? It practically touched the ground!

Of course, it was Sharpner that broke their silence. "This is the right tower!" he exclaimed. "Who other than the princess would have hair as long as this? All the beautiful princesses have long hair, so it's only natural she'd have hers this long after being here for so long!"

"But how do we get to her?" Gohan asked. "This place probably isn't that easily accessible if it's out in the middle of nowhere."

"And that is why _you_ are the sidekick and _I_ am the hero," Sharpner replied. "Don't you see? The reason the princess has her hair this long is so that her rescuer will use it to climb to her bed chamber. It practically screams 'this way up'." Grabbing the locks, the blond then said, "Follow me. I'll show you how it's done."

Dropping his pack onto the ground next to the tower, Sharpner began climbing up the hair. Gohan had to admit he was impressed with his friend's ingenuity. Copying his example, Gohan began following him up.

That was when they both heard screaming. "Oh no! The princess is in trouble! Step on it, Sidekick, we have to rescue her! Hold on Princess! We'll be up there in no time to save you!" Sharpner shouted.

As they quickened their pace, the scream grew louder and louder. They were about halfway up when they felt the hair in their hands grow very slack.

And then it was their turn to scream as they began falling.

* * *

><p>To put it simply, she was a beautiful woman. She had the long, golden hair to make other women envious, light blue eyes that made very special promises, a smile that captivated armies of men; she even had the perfect rack to keep their attention. She was a princess and deserved the title. She was Princess Erasa, a woman who sought the attention of someone worthy of her.<p>

A rich prince to be precise.

Though she lived in a tower in the middle of nowhere, there were always adventurous princes out and about and she felt that one day one would appear at her tower and sweep her off her feet. And to ensure that one would do such, she maintained her beautiful looks.

Such as the flowing, strapless green dress she wore to accentuate her figure, one that was tight around her body and drew attention to her perky breast, then exploded from her waist into a hoop skirt. It gave the impression she was a blossoming flower from all the green around her. Pink lined the bottom of the dress, along with a pink bow placed right below her belly button. A large bow sat just above her supple rump and a smaller one was nestled in front of her bosoms. There was a pink band around her neck and her arms were covered in arm length gloves, a small tiara sitting atop her head. In her mind, this was the perfect image of a princess.

And if her lucky prince were to take a peak beneath her dress, her thigh-length leggings led to a _very_ special surprise.

Yet, she had to work for this sexy body of hers. Any exercise that kept her fit and tight was done; any food that kept her thin was sought and devoured. And her hair, her precious hair, was brushed and cared for like a child.

Unfortunately, as long as her hair had gotten, it made caring for it a very long chore. Erasa had found that the easiest way to brush it was to hang it outside her window. Sitting in a chair with its back to the window, she went through her ritual serenely. If only her Prince Charming would come through that door on the other side of her bed chamber, he would be captivated by her.

That was what she had been doing this morning. She had just started bringing her brush through the locks to straighten out any possible knots there were when she felt something pull on her hair. Odd, that hadn't happened before. Just as she was about to brush it off as nothing, she felt it again, this time her head moving backwards a little. The next thing Erasa knew, her head was being pulled towards the window, her hair screaming out as it felt as if it were being pulled out of her head.

Grabbing onto the windowsill as best she could, Erasa tried to pull her head forward, but found that only caused her more pain. She couldn't help the scream that left her lips.

And that was when she heard someone call out to her, telling her they'd be up to save her. Were…were people using her hair to _climb_ up to her room? Those morons! Didn't they know that pulling hair hurt? As their pulls became more and more frantic, she couldn't help screaming louder and louder, hoping they realized they weren't doing anything good. Unfortunately, the persistant tugging didn't cut back at all, making the princess wonder what would happen first: would they actually reach her bedroom window, tear her hair out of her head, or pull her head first out the window?

...oh _HELL _no!

Panicking, one of Erasa's hands reached towards the small table she had sitting next to her hair. There she kept many instruments that maintained her hair, from split-ins to removing curls. As her hand bumped and brushed against them, they finally settled on something and she brought it up to her eyes.

Scissors! Perfect! With her unoccupied hand, she gathered as much of her hair as she could and held as still as she could. With the scissors, Erasa began cutting the hair on the side of her hand furthest from her head. Snip, snip, snip, Erasa just wished the pain would stop, it was almost unbearable!

And then a large amount of relief flooded her senses. Two screams went off outside of her window before a loud thud was heard, but she didn't care. Those bastards deserved to fall for what they had done!

As she let go of the hair in her hand, she then looked at the hand and felt an intense amount of rage as she saw the tiny strands of sniped hair. Those…those bastards had made her cut her glorious hair. How…how _could_ they?

Nearly leaping from her chair, the chair falling to the floor with a clatter, Erasa leaned out her window and glared down at the mass of blonde hair and limbs of the men responsible for it. "What do you two think you're doing?" she bellowed.

One of the men, a guy with long blond hair poked his head out of her hair, or least she thought he was blond. It was possible her hair was covering his true color. "We heard screaming and came to your aid, Princess!" he called up to her.

"My aid? You're the one that made me scream you dolt!" Erasa roared back.

"How was I suppose to know that? I only used your hair because it was the obvious way up!"

"There's a door you loser! Use it!"

That was when his companion poked his head out of her hair. He didn't say a word for a moment, then said "I think she's right, Sharpner. There's a door right there."

"Oh, you're taking her side now? What kind of sidekick are you?"

"Get your butts up here!" Erasa roared again, causing both men to jump in fright. "And bring my hair with you! You're the ones to cause this mess; you're sure as hell are gonna fix it!" Erasa then turned away from the window and made her way to a chest. Opening it, she pulled out a crossbow, cocked and ready to make someone's day a bad one. If one of those guys made a wrong move, she'd put one between their eyes.

And if they pissed her off anymore, she'd shoot them anyways.

* * *

><p>Erasa, Erasa, let down your hair. Or not. This could just be me, but when the Repunzel story has the prince climb up Repunzel's hair, I wonder what the storyteller was thinking. Climbing hair is the same as pulling hair, so it must hurt something horrible. I guess the storyteller never had their hair pulled.<p>

Chapter Arts for Chapter 6 through 9 are up and look awesome. I have to say, the one for Chapter 7 is looking to be my favorite so far. There's plenty of story to go over, so that might change.

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	11. And Enraged the Tower's Resident

_Year 659_

_This wasn't the way it was suppose to be. Everything was wrong, just so wrong._

_Piccolo stood at the edge of a cliff, the sea crashing against the rocks below. The sky was overcast, preparing itself for the storm that would surely break at any moment. He cared not a wit for it._

_His house had fallen. He should have known the other houses would have reacted much more violently than had been planned for. Instead of awaiting word from them on how to retrieve the stolen Monkey child, they had launched an all-out assault on what was left of the Demon House. His father, his comrades, all of them were either dead or in captivity. Lord Piccolo I had been executed like a dog at the Grand Plaza of the capital only a few days ago. To be honest though, he had figured that would be his father's fate one of these days, yet it didn't stop the hurt he felt at his loss. Everything that he had known and cared for was gone; just a wisp of smoke that drifted towards the heavens from the charred remains._

_So now what would he do? Better yet, what could he do? He had no home to go to, no allies to call upon for assistance. All he had was that stupid brat who wouldn't stop crying unless it was sleeping. What he wouldn't give to shut that brat up permanently. At least then his ears wouldn't feel like they were exploding in his head._

_Wait, that wasn't quite a bad idea. His home had been demolished not once, but twice because of those infernal Higher Houses. In fact, they _deserved_ to feel his pain and suffering. The brat would feel his fury, a painful reminder to all those looking for him that no one would be spared his wrath._

_Looking behind him, Piccolo saw the child nestled beneath a blanket. Stalking towards it, he grabbed the kid by the back of its shirt and lifted it up into the air. Incredibly enough, the kid didn't wake up, sleeping as it swung gently and subtly from side to side. In fact, a small sleep bubble expanded and contracted with each breath it took. Piccolo sneered at the sight; what a waste of an offspring. Walking back to the cliff's edge, Piccolo held the brat over the edge, facing away from him as it hovered over the roaring sea below._

_Seconds ticked by as he held that stance, waiting until the moment was right to release his hold and watch the child fall to its doom. A bolt of lightning flashed into the air, the roar of thunder following soon after; a fitting atmosphere for such an act._

_Yet, he still held onto the boy. As seconds turned into minutes, the demon lord began to feel puzzled. Why hadn't he dropped the kid already? This should've been a cakewalk considering the things he had been trained to do. Was he such a coward that he couldn't go through with what was suppose to be a simple task? He was a demon lord for crying out loud!_

_And that was when the child slowly twisted around to face him. Though still asleep, the look of innocence was causing unknown emotions to appear in his head. He couldn't help but feel this wasn't right, that he shouldn't be doing this. As the hand that held the child's shirt tightened, he pulled the child from the cliff's edge and walked back to its blanket. Laying the youngling down, he placed the blanket back on it and walked off. He needed to clear his head of all that was corrupting it. He'd figure out what to do with the brat later._

* * *

><p>Gohan had no idea hair could weigh so much. Seriously, despite the seeming weightlessness of it, a huge mass of it in his arms was surprisingly heavy.<p>

As he and Sharpner climb the stairs of this tower, he had to wonder what the two of them were in for. The Princess had seemed really ticked off with them for forcing her to cut off all of this hair. Reaching the door, Sharpner was the one to open it, being as he had taken the upstairs-side while Gohan had elected for the downstairs part. The moment the door opened, an arrow imbedded itself into the wooden door, causing Sharpner to let out a shrill scream.

Wow, Gohan had no idea the blond guy could scream like a girl.

"That's for my hair," he heard the Princess growl. With the mass of locks in front of his face, Gohan wasn't able to see what she looked like, though perhaps that was for the best. He hadn't been the best when encountering angry people.

"Lady, you almost gave me a heart attack!" Sharpner shouted, his voice returning to its natural octave. "Were you trying to kill me?"

"Oh, quit being such a baby. I missed on purpose. Now put my hair at the foot of my bed. Surely you can handle _that_ much."

As the two deposited their load, Gohan looked about the room until he found the princess. Once he found her, the young man couldn't help but blush at her. She really was beautiful, in spite of her new hairstyle, and the dress she was wearing did a very good job of showing off her…uhh, assets. Though at the moment, she didn't seem care that she was being admired. "Do you see what you've done? It took me years to get my hair that long, all of that work wasted!" Here her eyes watered up, on the verge of crying. "Do you know what it is like to have to lose everything you had because of a couple of idiots who could not figure out how to use a door?"

Gohan began scratching the back of his head. "I'm really sorry, ma'am. We didn't mean to hurt you like this. I wish we could do something to help you out."

Almost immediately, her watery look disappeared, a very predatory expression covering her face. "You want to make this better huh? Well, since you are here to rescue me from this tower, one of you two strapping lads must marry me. After all, it is custom for a princess to marry her rescuer."

Both Gohan and Sharpner froze at that, eventually turning to look at each other in disbelief. "W-were you aware of that rule?" Sharpner asked him hesitantly. When Gohan shook his head numbly, the blond gulped.

"Well, which on of you is it going to be? I do not have all day here."

As they both looked at the Princess again, they each began wondering if they should make the ultimate commitment. Though as Gohan began to wonder how she would take to traveling with him and Mr. Piccolo, Sharpner began to really notice her looks. Hmm, married to a woman like that would make for some very interesting fun in the bed chamber. In fact, he wouldn't mind coming home to someone of her beauty and ravaging her all night long. "Alright, since _I am_ the hero here, I'll marry you," he said with built-up confidence.

"Perfect." The Princess immediately went into action, pulling out all kinds of luggage and began to pack them, much to the confusion of the two young men. "I have much to pack and since there are two of you, you should be able to carry it all without much fuss. I hope your castle is not too far away though, I am limited with my shoe choices and these heels hurt my feet if I walk too long in them. Since you will have your hands full, you will not be able to carry me like a proper prince should. Though, if you brought a horse, then it will not matter all that much."

"Uhhh, what do you mean castle?" Sharpner asked perplexed.

"You know, the castle you come from. You are a prince, right? One that has been raised to be a king and will pamper me with all of your wealth? And love?"

This time, it was Gohan's turn to speak. "Umm, neither of us are princes. In fact, we're here to rescue you so we can take you back—"

"What do you mean you're not princes?" the Princess shrieked. "Only princes rescue princesses from towers, not commoners!"

"But, we are commoners," Gohan replied.

The Princess stared at them for several silent moments, blinking every once in awhile. Finally, she broke down in tears, crying loudly as she slowly sank to her knees. "This isn't the way it was supposed to go!" she bawled, large pouts of tears shooting from her eyes and creating a puddle around her.

Once again, Gohan and Sharpner looked at each other dumbly, before Gohan asked "What do you mean?"

The Princess hiccupped as she said "I was waiting here for a prince to come and take me away to be his bride. That's how all the stories go. How else is a girl supposed to go up in the world? I found a tower that no one was using, I got myself a pretty dress, kept myself in shape, and now it's all ruined! All because of you two dolts!"

Sharpner narrowed his eyes at that. "Are you really a princess?"

"Me? No! I wish I was, but my mother decided she should marry for love and not that one guy who owned an estate at the edge of town. If only she had married for money..."

Gohan bowed his head. "I'm really sorry, but we were looking for a princess out here. You see, I have to find one to free a friend of mine from prison and we thought you might be the one we were told was out here."

The fake princess looked at him through her tears, hiccupping some more. "No, I'm not that princess. She's in the tower a mountain over."

Gohan barely managed to hide the grimace that was trying to appear on his face. They had caused this poor girl trouble for nothing. "Well, if there's anything we can do to help, we'll do it. If we run into a prince, we'll tell him to come to you," he said hoping to cheer her up.

It seemed to work as she gave a small smile. "You'll really do that for me? After all the insults and name-calling I've done to you?" She hiccupped again, sighing right after it. "You're so sweet."

And then Sharpner decided to speak up once more. "You know, I can be sweet too, especially in that very comfortable-looking bed of yours."

A vein began pulsing on the blonde's head. "Tell your 'friend' to keep his mouth shut. I've had enough of him for the day."

"Hey, this bed is really bouncy! Hey princess-babe! I could show you things on this that no prince could dream of doing!"

At that point, the woman had had enough. Letting out a frustrated cry, she reached under her dress, pulled out a loaded crossbow, and aimed it right at Sharpner. Staring at it comically, it wasn't until the fake princess fired the bolt that he got a brain signal to move, the arrow embedding itself on headboard of the bed instead of his head. Letting out a high-pitched shriek, Sharpner took off for the door, grabbing Gohan by the arm and dragging him behind him and down the staircase. The last either of them saw of the fake princess was her pulling out another crossbow from underneath her dress.

* * *

><p>"Okay, you need to stay still," Gohan said.<p>

Sharpner's face twisted into a comical cross between crying and pain. The two had managed escape the pissed-off fake princess, at least for the most part. Neither of them had known that she had a sharp eye for long distance shooting. As they escaped the tower, the blonde woman had poked her latest crossbow and had made a direct hit on one of them.

She had hit Sharpner in the ass.

She had screamed at them soon after; that they would always be in her crosshairs for what they did to her hair, even as the blond manage to limp his wounded bottom away, his sidekick following him. The two only stopped when they felt certain that they were out of the blonde's firing range and decided it was time to remove that arrow.

Lying face down on the ground, Sharpner felt a grave injustice had been done unto him. Why did he have to be the one with the arrow in his ass? Why not Gohan the sidekick? The guy whose job it was to take such painful punishment. He had just as big of an ass as he did! It would've hurt way less for him had that happened! Just as he was making a name for himself in the world, the world had to push him back down.

They were all jealous of the greatness of Sharpner.

Feeling the arrow shift a bit, Sharpner hissed as he whipped his head around to glare at the dark-haired idiot. Seeing him with his hands on the arrow, Sharpner berated "Be careful with that! I'm very sensitive! If I so much as get a bruise out of this, you're a dead man, Sidekick!"

Gohan blinked at him. "Uhh, I'm pretty sure you can't get a bruise from an arrow in…you."

Turning back around, the blond said "Just shut up and get it out! My perfect butt, ruined by some crazed woman's stupid jealously. I was just too good for her, wasn't I?"

"How could she be jealous of—?"

"Why are you still talking? Get to work! I can't have the real princess see me like this!"

Gohan just hung his head. "Alright Sharpner, what ever you say. I'll pull this arrow out on the count of three, okay?"

"What ever; just do it!"

"Okay," Gohan nodded his head before he put all of his focus on the arrow. "One."

And right then, the dark-haired youth pulled the arrow out, causing Sharpner to scream girlishly again. "I thought you said three!" Sharpner screeched at him, only turning his head to look at him, not wanting to feel any more pain by rolling his buttocks every which way.

Gohan twirled the arrow around as he looked at the blond. "But had I gotten to three, you would've clenched your butt muscles, making the whole thing harder on you. I just thought it would be easier to pull it out when you were more relaxed."

"Well you thought wrong! Bah, why was I cursed with such a bumbling idiot for a sidekick? My butt will never be the same again!"

Without answering him, Gohan moved to their packs. Originally, they had forgotten them by the tower, so the young man had to go back and retrieved them. Fortunately, the fake princess was doing something else in her chamber and wasn't on the lookout for his return. After picking up the packs, Gohan returned with them and set them down nearby before turning to remove the arrow from Sharpner backside.

"It's a good thing that you put bandages in here," the young man said as he pulled out a roll of white cloth.

When he got near the blond, Sharpner snatched the bandage roll away, glaring at him. "I'll put this one, thank you very much. You might decide to break my hips while you're about it and I can't let that happen. The princess depends on having these hips in good condition."

Gohan stared at him for a bit before sighing and turning away. Okay, now all he had to do was figure out the best way to wrap these around him. It shouldn't be too hard; women did it all the time and anything a woman could do, Sharpner could do better.

Such was the greatness of Sharpner.

* * *

><p>RyRy tested; MaMa approved.<p> 


	12. At the Princess' Castle

"So, this is where the princess is," Sharpner deadpanned.

"It looks like it," Gohan replied.

Before the two men was a plain that was best described as a battlefield. Castoff swords, shields, arrows, and armor littered the large dirt field. There were various places where grass and thorny bushes grew, but it wasn't much. Some parts of the field looked as if it had been scorched with fire. There wasn't a volcano around, or at least there didn't appear to be one, but the smell of something burning covered the place.

And naturally the tower they were looking for was at the other end of the field. Though to be frank, it looked more like a castle than a tower, and a big one at that. A large stone building with many towers sat there, the stones colored a darkish grey. It gave off a sense of foreboding and loneliness. Oddly enough, there wasn't a wall surrounding the castle, unlike the one at the capital that Gohan had seen. In fact, the backside of the castle was protected by a mountainside, so there wasn't any way to approach the castle from the rear.

"We should be careful going there," Gohan said. "Without a castle wall, it's likely there are traps around here."

"And what kind of traps would that be?" Sharpner asked annoyed. "I don't see any traps around here."

Looking around, Gohan saw a lone arrow close to the two. Picking it up, he tossed it out into the field, both of them watching as it landed on the ground. Suddenly, two square wooden frames, wooden poles crisscrossing within the frames, sprang from the ground, arcing until each stood straight up in the air, barely a foot between the two. Sharp wooden stakes were attached to the crisscrossed poles, the skeleton of a man still hanging from the stakes.

Both youths blinked until Sharpner said "Oh."

It was quite awhile before the two gathered the courage to venture onto the field. With Gohan in the lead and Sharpner taking up the rear, they made their way to the sprung trap, figuring it was their best path to start with. Fortunately, they didn't spring anything, though the skeleton was creepy enough to stand around. "What do you think happened here?" Sharpner asked. "Some kind of battle?"

"It looks like that," Gohan agreed. "But I'm not too sure that was what happened. That burnt smell is one thing. And then there are those signs."

"Signs? What signs?" Sharpner said startled. Looking around, he soon saw the signs Gohan spoke of, each one saying either "Beware!" or "No Trespassers!" or "You'll Never Take _My_ Daughter's Virginity!" That last one made both of them pause for a moment.

"I think the princess has a very protective father," Gohan finally said, blinking owlishly.

"Protective? He's got traps to kill people! The guy's insane!" Sharpner exclaimed. Looking around, he then asked, "So where to now? I don't see any more traps."

Looking about the ground, Gohan had to agree, he didn't see any more obvious ones, but that didn't mean there weren't any. Taking a few steps forward, he kept his eyes peeled and focused on the ground. Turning left, he went a few more paces before turning straight again. Then another left and back. Then a long distance to the right and back straight again. It was like this for quite some time as Gohan picked a path for them and Sharpner followed literally in his foot steps. And to make a long, boring story short, they managed to cross the field without incident, though they had a big surprise once finished.

They hadn't been able to see it from the other side of the field, but surrounding the castle was a large, black pit. There was no telling how deep it went just be looking into it. Gohan even pushed a rock into it and listened for it to hit the bottom, never hearing a sound. "I think this is a bottomless pit," he finally said.

"Ya know, with that battlefield behind us, I don't think that's an understatement," Sharpner agreed for once. Looking back at the castle, the only thing they could use to cross the pit was a long, stone bridge. It seemed to be in decent shape, and while Gohan doubted it would crumble upon setting foot on it, it was always best to be prepared.

"Well, you're the hero, why don't you cross it?"

Sharpner gave him a dirty look, looking to argue the point before he realized that anything less they accepting the challenge would put him on the sidekick level—and he was _no_ sidekick. "Fine, I will." Looking at the bridge, a bead of sweat began working its way down his face. "You know, I'm sure that it's safe."

"Doesn't look like anything is wrong."

"Heh, I could cross this bridge in my sleep even!"

"That is entirely possible."

"Heck, I think my brave sidekick could do it too if he wanted."

"I'm sure he could after seeing the hero do it first."

A growl came from the blond before he finally steeled himself and set out onto the bridge. Surprisingly enough, nothing happen. No traps, no sudden bridge collapse, nothing. In fact, when Sharpner completely crossed the bridge without incident, he felt like a million bucks. Not able to keep his pent-up excitement, he let out a cry of triumph as he spun around to face Gohan, who had stayed on the other side of the bridge, and shot his arms up into the air. "I did it!"

And that was when Sharpner felt his left foot drop a little bit. Slowly, his eyes drifted down to his foot, a sickening feeling welling up in his stomach as well as showing on his face upon discovering what was wrong. A small stone was lower than its comrades, his foot settled right in the pothole it had made.

That was when a large stone ball crashed into the ground behind him, causing a tremor to shake the ground, small cloud of dust shooting up into the air. Turning his head, the blond's eyes bulged out of his head as it saw the large ball begin rolling towards him. Letting out a scream, Sharpner took off running back down the bridge, the ball rolling faster and faster behind him. "Somebody, anybody! Help me!" he screamed. "I don't want to die! Mommy!"

As he reached the other end of the bridge, a hand came out of nowhere and grabbed his right shoulder. Immediately, the hand pulled him to a side, the rolling ball continuing its course as it blew right past Sharpner and his savior. Both watched as the ball rolled through the field, triggering booby traps that were crushed or broken as they proved useless against the stone behemoth.

That was when Gohan spoke up behind the blond, the obvious savior of Sharpner. "Well, at least we don't' have to worry about traps on our way out." Sharpner just nodded his head weakly. Taking a moment to compose himself and hope no one noticed his moment of cowardice, he sprung back to his feet with gusto.

"Alright, no more dawdling! It's time to get to that princess—no if, ands, or buts about it!" the blond proclaimed before beginning to cross again.

However, Gohan couldn't help wrinkling his nose. "Umm Sharpner?"

"What?"

"What smells like poop?"

* * *

><p>The large wooden door creaked loudly as Gohan and Sharpner pushed one side of the double doors open. The inside of the castle looked much like the outside of it did with various skeletons in armor with weapons lying about, random stones from the walls and ceiling littering the floor. Everything about the place screamed "Turn Back and Leave My Daughter Alone!"<p>

Not that they were going to follow that very sound advice.

However, Gohan felt it was best if he and Sharpner prepared for something worse than what had happened outside. Moving to one of the skeletons, he picked up its sword and swung it around, feeling its weight and balance.

"Uhh, what are you doing?" he heard the blond ask him.

Turning back to Sharpner, Gohan said "I think it would be best if we armed ourselves. Who knows what else is defending this castle. Since there are all of these weapons here, I thought I'd grabbed one."

Sharpner stared at him for awhile before saying "That's the first smart thing I've heard you say on this entire journey."

A sweatdrop appeared on Gohan's head. "Uhh, thanks, I think." Seeing Sharpner getting his own sword, Gohan turned back to his previous task, satisfied with the sword. Eyeing a shield a little bit away, he picked it up and made sure it wouldn't be too heavy for him. What was the use of a shield if one couldn't move with it?

"Hey Sidekick! Check this out!" Turning around, Gohan couldn't help the stupor he found himself in as he saw Sharpner fully clothed in a knight's armor with the visor down. How did he get in that thing without help?

"Now there's nothing that'll stop me from rescuing the princess!" the blond declared from within the metal suit. Awkwardly turning to his right, he began to move forward until he lost his balance, falling onto his face with a loud clatter. "Errgh, mmrph, damn it, I can't get up!" Sharpner cried out, the suit shaking from his struggle.

For a moment, Gohan wondered if it was best if he left Sharpner here. He wouldn't get in the way and would, theoretically, be safe from anything that found him. Unfortunately, he had this thing called a conscience that told him he shouldn't do that. Sighing, Gohan went about taking the suit off of the blond.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Sharpner demanded as he stopped his struggling.

"Wearing one of these is a waste of time," Gohan said, pulling off the metal boots. "We'd be better off without it."

"What could possibly hurt me in this thing? I'm invincible!"

"Well, there could be a monster in here that'll pick the suit off while you're lying on the ground and then eat you."

"…take the bloody thing off me."

It took awhile, but eventually Sharpner was back on his feet, a sour expression on his face. As the two began to venture further into the castle, the blond said "I bet you the princess is in the highest tower of this place. That where all the princesses are in the stories."

Gohan didn't seem to fault the logic and nodded his head. As they entered what was once a dinning hall, he replied "We need to find some stairs then. The higher we get up, the bet—"

Suddenly, a loud growl echoed throughout the room, causing both young men to stop in their tracks. "D-did you h-hear that?" Sharpner stuttered.

Gohan gulped. "P-perhaps it was just o-our imaginations?"

Another growl came, this time much louder. Both men began to shake in their boots, their arms causing their weapons to shake and rattle as well. Looking about the room, the two soon saw a large shadow moving, growing bigger upon the nearby walls. As an even louder growl was heard, Gohan could've sworn he felt the urge to soil his pants. It was only natural. In fact, if what he smelled was correct, Sharpner had already done it…again.

And then all of their fears came true. A large purple dragon lumbered into the room, not seeming to have a care in the world. The dragon walked on all four legs, its claws leaving marks on the stone floor. Two large horns grew out of the back of its head, two smaller ones sticking out on either side of its head. A line of spikes followed the dragon's spine, ending at the tip of its tail. There was something around its neck as well; a collar of sorts if one had to call it something with a flat, round, metal plate hanging from the collar, the letter I engraved in it. Its carefree attitude disappeared once its large blue eyes fell on them. For a moment, both sides just stared at each other, one curiously and the other terrified. Eventually, the dragon decided he didn't like seeing the two young man and let out a loud roar, causing both to scream like little girls.

Baring its teeth, the dragon then let out another roar, though this time a large ball of fire erupted from its mouth. This was an excellent sign that Gohan and Sharpner had overstayed their welcome. Both took off in different directions, Sharpner running down the hall nearest him, while Gohan went into what appeared to be a set of stairs. Running up them, Gohan could feel himself breathing louder and louder in a panicky pace. As he came onto a floor, he felt he was in the clear from the dragon. After all, the staircase had been in a small corridor. There was no way the dragon could get him up it!

Apparently the dragon disagreed. Looking back down the stairs, Gohan saw a bright red and orange light beginning to grow, getting larger and larger. Eyes widening, the young man almost hit himself in the head. How could he have been so stupid to think the monster wouldn't breathe fire up the damn staircase? Looking around, Gohan immediately found a door close by. Running to it, he had just barely opened it when he saw a torrent of fire racing towards him from the stairs. Quickly ducking into the room, he slammed the door shut, the flames barely nicking him. Pressing his back against the door, he let out a sigh. Well, that had been close.

A soft inhaling suddenly caught his attention, causing the young man to stiffen. Looking about the room, Gohan soon found a bed, a lovely young woman sleeping on it. Gohan could feel himself gulping as he looked upon the sight.

Now what?

Hmm, let's see, what did a person do in these situations? He was pretty sure there was some kind of protocol. He needed to wake her up that was for sure, but how? Was she sleeping normally or was she under some kind of spell? Since it was the afternoon, Gohan felt it was probably the latter. Who slept in the middle of the day anyway? Then another thought came to mind. Wasn't the princess supposed to be at the highest tower? Why was she on the second floor? Meh, who cared? It was less work he had to do to find her, not to mention there were more pressing issues at the moment.

Like how did he break a spell? It wasn't like he was that talented as a magic user. Wait, wait, wasn't there some action he could do? What was it…lay next to them? Shake them a little bit? Kiss them? That was it! He had to kiss the girl awake and…and...

Wait a minute. He…had to…_kiss_…her?

Well, this was going to be a bit awkward.

Seeing no other possible course of action, Gohan approached the bed until he stood next to it. From what he could see, the princess wore a gown of some sort. Perhaps two layers? The bottom layer was a rich red color and a light pink layer was on top of it. It looked soft and silky, almost to the point he wanted to touch it just to feel it. Resting in her dark hair was a small tiara, a definite sign that she was a princess, excluding the fake one from the previous chapter. She seemed truly at peace in this state. It was almost a shame he was going to have to wake her up from it.

Again, Gohan gulped. He couldn't help but admit to himself 'Whoa…she's so beautiful.' It was almost enough to make him wonder if he should be trying to kiss such a girl awake. Mr. Piccolo probably would've agreed with him that he was in no way, shape, or form he was worthy of such a thing. Damn it, now he was talking himself out of it! What did Mr. Piccolo know anyway? Okay, new thought! 'O-okay Gohan, you can do this…To break the spell, all you've got to do…is…'

Steeling his resolve, he lowered himself onto the bed, sitting next to the princess by her side. Already his heart was beating rapidly in his chest; he could practically hear the thumps in his ears. Resting an arm on her other side, he lowered himself more until he was just above her lips, feeling her warm breath tickling his own lips. Here it was, the moment of truth.

Closing his eyes, he began to close the extremely short distance between him and the girl. The beats of his heart knew no limit to how hard and loud they could be inside his chest; the pounding of his heart was practically all he could hear at this point. The beating came to stop once his lips made contact with the princess's. It wasn't long before Gohan completely lost track of time, unsure as to how long he had kissed the girl beneath him. That all changed though, when he felt the princess begin to stir beneath him.

As he raised himself up, he saw the princess open up her eyes, a brilliant blue looking up at him. For a moment, she just looked at him, completely innocent. Slowly, she rose until she could hold herself up with her arms, still keeping eye contact with him.

As Gohan looked back at her, he felt the urge that he needed to explain himself to her. She must've been wondering what was going on after all. "Umm…er," he started. Well that wasn't a good start. "Uh…Hi! M-my name is Gohan. I'm here to resc—"

A loud smack was heard, Gohan stopping his introduction as he felt her palm slap the side of his face. "Pervert!"

P-p-pervert? What was with that name again? Immediately, Gohan was pushed away by the princess, a surprising amount of strength behind the push as he fell off the bed. Rage dominated the expression on her face as fangs seemed to replace her teeth. Out of nowhere, a large mallet appeared in her hands, the words "Pervert Punisher" engraved in the wood. Leaping onto her feet, the girl swung the hammer above her head and then down, the mallet making a direct hit with his head.

Stars shot out everywhere as Gohan saw bright colors exploding in front of his eyes. Another hit to the head returned him to the room as the princess readied for another swing. "You sick freak!" she screamed at him. "How _DARE_ you take advantage of a sleeping girl?"

Feeling his survival instinct kicking in, Gohan began to crawl away from the lunatic girl as quickly as he could. "I-I was just trying to help!" he cried out, trying to defend himself. The mallet striking the ground behind him told him she didn't quite believe him. "I th-thought you were under a spell!"

"I was just taking a _nap_! Now hold still and feel my justice, swine!"

And the mallet came down again.

* * *

><p>Hooray! Videl's made her big entrance! And a violent one at that lol. Completely Ms. Videl Son's idea though, since she drew this scene a long time ago. You can find the entire scenecomic in my favorites folder on DeviantArt or megaminoeien's (MVS) art gallery, going by the name of _Dragon Quest Z Page 1-Line_. That's the first page anyways, there being six pages in total, and I think one has been colored by now. Anyways, I wanted to follow the comic as closely as I could and I think I can pretty close. Obviously there are a few differences, but writing and drawing are two different medias.

Embarrassingly enough for me, MVS had this comic drawn and posted on DA within days of us talking about it. I could be exaggerating a bit, but it's not too far off.

Also, you can find Videl's dress design in the same folder/gallery. It's under the name of _DQZ Day to Day_. MVS really likes drawing dresses and various fashions; I'll admit right now, I'm completely relying on her in that department for the story lol. She knows what she's doing after all. Oh! And before I forget (again), she's also drawn Erasa's dress too—something I should have mentioned in the previous two chapers. That one's called _DQZ Pretty Pretty Princess_. It's before Erasa's impromptu haircut so you'll also get an idea of how long her hair was lol.

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	13. Was a Very Annoyed Princess

Gohan cowered in the corner of the room, holding his arms above his head to provide a small amount of protection. Large bumps grew from his head, smaller bumps growing on those bumps. Some cuts and bruises and a nice shiny black-eye rounded up all the wounds he collected.

All because of that she-devil sitting on the edge of her bed.

Why? Why did this have to happen to him? He'd done nothing but good in his life. He was even trying to save someone's life, as well as rescue her from this dull existence here. But what did she do? She called him a pervert and proceeded to smack him around the room. It was so unfair.

Once she had finished with her clobbering, the princess had sat at the edge of her bed, crossing her legs over each other and her arms across her chest. Her eyes glared at him, but that was nothing new.

"So what are you doing here, Pervert?" she said, ending the silence. "You are a long way from anywhere else."

Making sure her "Pervert Punisher" wasn't within grabbing distance, Gohan answered. "That's what I've been trying to tell you. I'm here to rescue you from this castle."

"Rescue me? Do I look like I need rescuing?" the Princess shot back. "Why do all of you princes think that when ever a princess is off on her own, in some far away castle where none have returned, she needs to be rescued?"

"Umm, I'm not a prince," Gohan said, blinking owlishly.

The Princess turned her head to look at him directly. "Riiight, I find that hard to believe. Only princes go around rescuing people."

"But I'm not a prince, honest. I've been traveling around the kingdom since I was a little boy!"

She cocked an eyebrow at him. "Say I believe you are not a prince, why would you come to rescue me, huh? Are you just a pervert that wanted to get under my skirt? Is that it?"

Gohan waved his hands in front of himself, hoping to placate the girl. "No! Nothing like that! A friend of mine was thrown in prison for a crime he didn't commit. I was told that if I wanted to get him out, I had to rescue a princess and bring her back."

This time, it was the Princess's turn to blink bewilderedly. Then her eyes narrowed. "So you thought you would just trade me for your friend? What do you take me for, some village bicycle?"

"But he's been wrongly arrested and—"

"Not interested."

Gohan stared at the princess. Did…did she just say no to being rescued? But he thought all princesses wanted to be rescued! That fake one was pretending to need one for crying out loud! Already, his mind was creating her loud pleas for help. It did such a good job too that he felt he really was hearing screams.

And then a knock was heard from the door, followed by it creaking open. "Hey Videl, I am ba-a-ack!" a cheerful and very familiar voice said. For a moment, the Princess looked more annoyed than she already was. "What does it take to keep her away from here?" he heard her mutter as she turned to face the door.

Gohan froze in place as his eyes widened in surprise. It…it was her! The fake princess from before! What was she doing here? Why wasn't she calling for help like his head was telling him she was? What was going on here?

And apparently, she heard the Princess's muttered. "Oh Videl, you know those booby traps of yours will not work on me. You always seem to set up new ones though."

Wait, that entire battlefield of traps was made by the _princess_? Not her overprotective father, but this vertically-challenged girl? But…how…why…

And that was when the blonde fake princess looked in his direction and froze. Then she shouted "You!" as she pointed a finger right at him. The real princess just looked between the two confused. And then her eyes caught sight of something else.

"Did you cut your hair Erasa?"

The blonde looked miffed. "I had no choice but to thanks to this guy and his…" Her eyes narrowed. "If he's here, then that annoying friend of his is here too!" Immediately, her hands went beneath her dress and withdrew a crossbow, fully loaded and ready to kill. Seriously, how many of those things did she have under there? "Where is he? I'm not through with him!"

The Princess watched the scene in fascination. "So you two have met before," she said slowly.

"C'mon Vi, I know you're not that slow. Yes we've met and because of that, I had to cut my hair!" She sniffed then. "I had to style it out and everything after that."

Videl's eyes narrowed. "You made Erasa cut her hair?" she bellowed at Gohan, causing him to cower once more.

"W-We didn't mean to," he stuttered in his poor defense. Almost immediately, the Pervert Punisher was back in her hands, the other girl's crossbow pointed right at him. OH, this was not going to end well.

But then, both women stopped, frowning as they did. "Do you hear something?" the Princess asked, turning to look at the blonde.

She nodded her head as she said "Yeah. It sounds like a Billy goat is getting mauled by an ogre."

Gohan began to listen now and he found that it was the same screams he'd been hearing so far. Then he had to pause as the fake princess's words sunk in. Why would she think of something that violent? Wait, he was getting sidetracked. The voices! Focus on the voices. Hmm…that didn't sound right, did it?'

"It sounds like it is coming from outside," the Princess said, slowly approaching the nearest window, the blonde at her side. Feeling a little brave, Gohan ventured to the window with them, all three looking out of it at the same time.

They were greeted by the sight of the purple dragon chasing someone out in the field. Occasionally it would breath fire at the person, who would somehow dodge it with athletic ability Gohan wasn't sure was possible to exist. If he had to say anything, the person was a man though it was hard to tell since he had such long blond…

That was Sharpner, wasn't it?

Next to him, Gohan felt the princess stiffen before she nearly shrieked "My Dragon!" Immediately, she spun around and raced out the door, Gohan and the fake princess just looking after the dust cloud she left in her wake. Turning to look at the girl as she looked to him, Gohan couldn't help but ask "That dragon belongs to her?"

The blonde huffed. "Yeah, she found it one day and trained it to be a guard dog. I swear she only did it to keep me out of here." Then she added in a sing song voice "Not that it wo-o-o-orked!"

Gohan swallowed. These women were crazy. Just flat out crazy. Perhaps he really needed to go find some other princess, one that wouldn't try to hurt him at every possible turn. "Umm, I think I'm going to go down there and…watch."

Without waiting for a response, Gohan hurried out of the room, heading for the staircase he knew was nearby. Following the way he came, the young man soon found himself outside of the castle and staring at one very unusual scene. The Princess was standing next to the dragon and petting it, cooing it as if it were a baby. "It is okay Icarus, that mean man will not be hurting you any more," he heard her say, causing Gohan to stare at her as if she were crazy. And was that _purring_ he was hearing from the dragon? Slowly, he then shifted his focused on Sharpner, who was lying on the ground several yards away and cowering much like Gohan had been in the Princess's room. The blond boy was muttering something, but Gohan couldn't quite make out what it was, though that was probably for the best. He had the feeling he didn't want to know what he was saying.

"I do not see what Videl sees in the monster," the blonde fake princess said as she appeared right next to him, looking put out. Due to the absurdity of the scene, Gohan could only nod his head in response. "I mean, it is so _big_ and _ugly_ and I bet it goes potty somewhere in the castle."

However, the Princess heard the blonde's comment and gave her a dirty look. "There is nothing wrong with having a dragon for a pet, Erasa. In fact, he supposed to keep people away. It is his job."

The fake princess just rolled her eyes before she put her hands on Gohan and pushed him towards Sharpner, the young man stumbling as he tried to recover his balance, managing to do so next to his…friend. "That just leaves what we have to do with these two. I say you get your…_pet_ to barbeque them."

"No! You can't do that!" Gohan protested, panicking as scenes of him and Sharpner ending up like roasted pigs flooded his mind. There were even apples in their mouths and garnishes placed around them.

"And why not? You trespass on my property, your pal on the ground let Icarus outside, you even tired to force your perverted fantasies on me. Can you give me one good reason I should not feed you as dragon treats?" the Princess countered.

"I already told you, I need to bring a princess back to the capital so I can save my friend!"

"And who told you to do that?" the blonde asked, looking just as skeptical as her friend.

"It was the Head there. Umm…Rolee? Rosee? Roshi! That's it, his name's Roshi and he told me to come here." Gohan began to think quickly now. It wasn't until he took a good look at the fake princess that an idea popped into his head. "He said he wanted to marry a princess and if I found him one, he would help me out. Honest!"

The blonde lit up at that thought. "Wait, marry? You're not making this up, are you?"

Gohan had to swallow as his next words came out hallow. He hadn't really lied before, mostly because Piccolo would punish him something fierce when he would start. It had an excellent result him being as truthful as possible. "Y-yeah. I didn't ask too many questions about it, but that was the gist of it."

"Is this Roshi guy handsome? What is he like? Do you think he would be interested in me? Is he rich? Come on! I want details!"

The Princess looked at her friend and said "I thought I was the princess here." It didn't seem to make a dent in the blonde's mind as she just hushed at her.

As an image of Roshi appeared in Gohan's mind, particularly one that had him sitting on a throne with a potted plant in his crotch and his pants at his ankles, he had to hide a cringe. This was not going to be easy. "I guess you can say he's…attractive. I'm pretty sure he's rich though and he does like pretty girls. In fact, he told me the princess had to be pretty and I think he'd like you very much."

That was when Sharpner popped up, seeming to be absent of any injuries, though Gohan wasn't too sure how that was possible. "We can't turn over the princess to someone else!" he disagreed. "I mean, look at those two. They're hot! Hot women don't grow on trees you know! It would be a crime to just give them away!"

Seeing the dark-haired girl begin to scowl, Gohan grabbed Sharpner by his collar pulled him towards him, and began whispering harshly into his ear. "If we don't try to give one of them to Roshi, we're gonna be inside that dragon's stomach by nightfall. I'm trying to save our lives here!"

Looking over to the dragon as it yawned, showing all of its white, pointed, and very sharp teeth, Sharpner gulped. "You make a very good argument. But it has to be the one with black hair. She's the princess here," he said loud enough for the girls to hear.

The fake princess's head snapped up. "Hey, this Roshi guy does not know I am not a princess! If no one tells him, he will never be the wiser!"

Gohan let go of Sharpner's collar as he began to scratch the back of his head with the same hand. "But wouldn't that be lying?" He intentionally ignored the irony of the current situation.

"Oh, so you want to give me to some lazy bastard on the other side of the kingdom, huh?" the Princess said. "I already told you, I am not going to be some bargaining chip. Use Erasa, she is the person most interested in being one."

"I…I guess so," Gohan hesitated. The next thing he knew, the fake princess was right in his face, her hands grabbing him by his shoulder.

"You have to take me!" she practically screamed in his face. "Waiting for a prince hasn't worked for me so far, so I need to actively look for on! You owe me for what you did to my hair!"

"Alright, alright! We'll take you to Roshi. We'll just have to leave out about you not being a real princess," Gohan relented. Looking around, he then said "Perhaps we should wait until morning to go though. I don't think we should wander these mountains at night."

"And stay with a dragon?" Sharpner shouted, making Gohan wonder if he would be losing his hearing sometime soon. Everyone seemed to want to scream into his ears for some reason. "Uh uh, we're leaving now. We can stay at this girl's tower for the night!"

"We can stay here!" the fake princess declared as she ran back to the real princess. "C'mon Vi, you can let us stay here! We can have a sleepover and snacks and tell each other secrets. It will be great!"

Gohan was pretty sure he saw the Princess shudder. "Alright, they can stay here for the night. But that other stuff will _not _be happening. Go braid their hair or something, but leave mine alone."

"Great!" the fake princess cheered. As the blonde moved back to the young men, she suddenly turned back to her reluctant friend and said "And while we are here, you should lock Icarus in his little dragon house or where ever he goes to sleep. I do not want to wake up and open my door to find he had an accident in front of my door again."

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><p>To nameless reviewing: Thanks! It was a fun one to write.<p>

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	14. Who Decided to Go on a Journey

_Year 660_

"_I will not be the next father to have their child stolen!" the burly man declared, his large fist slamming down on the table. The people at the table either looked away from the fierce expression on his face or trembled at his anger._

"_I know you want to protect your daughter, milord," a woman said, trying to pacify him even though it didn't appear to have any effect. "But it has been a year since the Monkey boy had been taken and no more children have been stolen as of late. It is likely that our daughter will not be—"_

"_You want to take that risk?" her husband cried out. "No, I refuse to ever let anyone touch her that way!"_

"_Hercule, you are being irrational—"_

"_Of course I am being irrational! I will not leave my daughter's safety to chance! I did not just spend a year renovating that castle hideaway because I felt like it! Videl _is_ going to stay there until I feel that she is safe!"_

"_But you are always thinking she is in some sort of danger. The little boy she usually plays with is not even allowed in the castle anymore because you thought he was trying to deflower her! They are four years old for Kami's sake!"_

"_I do not see anything wrong with that."_

"_Of course _you _do not. You think anyone of the male gender wants to have sex with her and she does not even know the entire alphabet! I mean, how long are you expecting to keep her there? When she has a head of grey hair and can barely walk without assistance?"_

"_Well…"_

_The Lady looked at the lord at first in shock, then in anger. "Are you insane? You cannot possibly do that! She is a little girl! What is she going to think when she is not with anyone else?"_

"_She already thinks she is a big girl and that she can live on her own," Hercule said. "And she will not be left on her own. I have ordered the training of vicious dogs to protect her from outsiders. No one is coming around my baby girl without losing a limb!"_

"_You made her believe she is old enough to live alone?" the Lady practically shrieked. "You ignora—"_

"_That is quite enough!" Hercule bellowed, silencing his wife. "I have made my decision and there is no way I will change it. I am the Head of the Devil House and my order will be carried out to the letter, comma, and period."_

_The Lady could only gape in silence._

* * *

><p>Gohan just stared at the large mountain of clothes, his mind completely blank and struggling to come up with some sort of thought.<p>

There was no way they could take all this.

As the Princess had said the previous day, he and Sharpner, along with the fake princess, were allowed to spend the night at her castle. The following morning though, the princess looked at the two young men and said there was no way she was letting her friend go with such dishonest-looking faces.

Up until that point, Gohan had thought he had a pretty honest face if you asked him.

But now, the Princess had changed her mind and was determined to come with them. The fake princess had been ecstatic about it and the two had disappeared to go "pack." Upon finding them in the Princess's room, Gohan froze upon seeing their idea of packing. Large bags and packs were filled to the brim with such necessities as clothes, shoes, beauty equipment, bedding, cherished possessions, and other such things. Had these two ever heard of packing light?

Sharpner seemed to have the same thoughts as he did since he said "What in the world do you need all of this junk for?" Okay, Gohan probably would've phrased it nicer, but that was the gist of what he'd been thinking.

Both princesses stopped what they were doing and glared at him, the temperature of the room suddenly dropping. "All of this is essential stuff," the blonde declared, her look becoming more and more venomous. "Unlike you two, we have to be prepared for every situation that may come up."

"Like what?"

"We will we need travel clothes and extra pairs because we are not wearing the same thing for days on end, _unlike_ you two cretins. We also need our court dresses ready in case we have to be presented in front of a royal court, and if that happens we will also need our dresses for the ball that will most assuredly be held afterwards. We also need to keep up with appearances so that means we need to be able to maintain our—"

"Hold it, Hooooooold it," Sharpner interrupted. "You don't and won't be needing all of that pointless crap. We just need food, money, and a good pair of boots to walk in. Me and Sidekick here will drag you out of this castle if we have to."

"Umm, Sharpner, are you sure about that?" Gohan asked, feeling a bit nervous. "They have weapons."

"So? I'll take a little pounding as long as it means I won't have to carry all this crap," Sharpner countered. "You really think these hoity-toity princesses are gonna carry it all? I don't think so. That means you and me will be breaking our backs will they frolick around without a care in the world."

"I was hoping the dragon would do most of the heavy lifting. He looks like he could carry it all."

"Sidekick, shut up."

"Wait, your name is actually Sidekick?" the Princess asked, looking at Gohan. "Should that not be a nickname instead? Who would name you that anyways?"

"My name's not Sidekick!" Gohan said in exasperation. Pointing to the blond guy, he added, "That's just what he calls me."

"Then what is your real name?"

"It's Gohan."

Both girls seemed to think about that name until the Princess said "I guess that's better. And your friend's name, is it Sharper? Sharpener?"

"I," Sharpner spoke up, a prideful tone in his voice, "that is the hero of this group, am called Sharpner, but you can call me Hot Steamin' Love Bug."

Even Gohan had to look at Sharpner with disbelief. Did he _really_ just say that? "I think we shall pass on that," he heard one of the girls say, but he wasn't too sure which one. He was still stuck on that ridiculous name.

Upon hearing some throats being cleared, Gohan looked to the princesses as they looked towards him and Sharpner expectantly. Now what did they want? "Umm, why are you looking at us that way?"

"I do not know how you were raised, but usually when you introduce yourself to someone else, you ask for their name too," the blonde said, an irritated tone in her voice. "Since we asked for your names, it is only proper etiquette that you ask for ours."

"Ummm, okay," Gohan stuttered. However, seeing Sharpner about to say something he knew both of them would regret, he quickly asked "What can we call you?"

The blonde's shoulders slumped as she looked to her dark-haired friend. "I think this is the best we are going to get out of them." Looking back to them, she then said "My name is Erasa, and this is Videl."

"It's nice to meet you," Gohan said. Then "So can we leave now?"

A simultaneous "NO!" was his answer.

"Alright, that's it!" Sharpner declared. "Let's go Sidekick. We can find some other princess to go with us."

"Ha! There is not another princess in these parts," Erasa retorted, a smug look on her face. "I would know. I searched them all."

"Well, _you_ don't know the way to the capital and _we_ do. So if you want your Prince Charming, you better come with us. Otherwise, good luck running around the countryside with all those wild animals and thieves."

"They are bluffing," Videl said, looking at the two suspiciously. "There is no way the two of them leave without us."

Gohan was inclined to agree with the dark-haired girl, that is until Sharpner grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out the room, dragging him until they had left the castle. It was fortunate that big stone ball had carved a nice safe path through the battlefield of traps, otherwise they'd have to pick their way through it again. "But Sharpner! We can't leave without them! We don't have any time to go looking around for another princess!"

"Don't worry, those pampered hotties will be chasing after us in no time," the blond said confidently. "I use this same trick to score with the village girls. Works every time."

Dubious—especially about the part with the blond having girls willingly chase after him— Gohan was just about to let his comrade know just how he felt about this "plan" when he heard two voices shouting after them. Looking behind him, Gohan was surprised to see the two princesses chasing them down, still in their dresses and somehow managing to move quickly on high heels. Perhaps they had a lot of practice to do such a thing, he supposed. But for once, it seemed Sharpner had been right. "See, what did I tell ya?" Sharpner gloated as he nudged his elbow into Gohan.

And then they both began to hear what the two girls were shouting. "You two get back here right now!" Erasa shouted. "We are not even close to being done packing!"

"Do not make me sic Icarus on you!" Videl added.

"Should we try to put more distance between us and the castle?" Gohan asked as the two princesses drew closer to them. "You know, so that by the time they catch up with us, we'll be too far away to have to go back?"

"Yeah…yeah!" Sharpner agreed nervously. "Let's go Sidekick, before they drag us back." Quickly turning, both young men began walking hurriedly away from the two women, both who were now screaming louder and angrier. "Is it just me, or do I get the feeling they're gonna try and kill us when they catch up with us," Sharpner said.

Gohan nodded his head as he gulped. "I think so too."

"Well, there's a saying from my village that I found very useful," Sharpner said. "When it comes to escaping angry women, I don't have to outrun them, I just have to outrun you!"

Before Gohan could register what the blond said, Sharpner had taken off into a run, leaving the dark-haired boy in his dust and much closer to the increasingly terrifying princesses. "You can't do that!" Gohan shouted as he began to run after the blond.

* * *

><p>Well this was just perfect. Why, why did she decide that she would go with these two bumbling fools? Did they not know how important it was to be prepared while traveling? Videl felt that it would be in her best interest if she just went back to her castle and forgot all about this.<p>

Unfortunately, she had no idea what was the correct way back.

That's what she got for not venturing out of her castle more. Videl hadn't been very interested with the area when she first moved in. In fact, the furthest she'd ever been away was that large field of booby traps, since she was always installing more to keep a certain blonde away. So now that she was beyond her usual range, she was as lost as the young men she was with.

When they went to sleep that night, she was gonna kill them.

Of course, that would defeat the whole purpose of her and Erasa chasing them down after they had left her castle. At first, she had thought they were bluffing until she saw them walking away from the castle on that newly entrenched path through the battlefield. So after having to run them down to keep them from leaving Erasa at the very least, they were too far away from her castle to make a reasonable trip back, or so everyone but her claimed. So now she needed their guidance to what ever village or city they were heading towards and then use it to get back.

She really shouldn't have left her castle.

Well, Videl couldn't really say they were completely clueless. Apparently they had their own travel gear stashed somewhere out here, why they left it here was beyond her, but she wouldn't question it. They would just have to get some more supplies when they reached the first village they encountered.

Wait a minute, these two _did_ have some money, right? She and Erasa had left her castle fairly quickly and without anything they could reasonably use on the trip. Grrr, just another reason to kill these two.

"Hey," Videl said, getting the attention of the entire group. "Do you guys have any money on you? If we are going to be traveling, Erasa and I will be needing different clothes soon."

The blond—Sharpner if she recalled correctly—just waved off her concern. "We got money. I stopped by your money room before we left and got a bunch."

"You took my money!" Videl screamed. "Give it back! Give me back my money, you pervert! You thief!"

"Hey, I am not a thief!" Sharpner protested. "You have plenty of it, so quit being so stingy."

"Umm, Sharpner?" the dark-haired guy—Gohan—spoke up. "You didn't deny the other name she called you."

"What's your point?"

"How did you get the money though?" Erasa asked suddenly. "Videl keeps all of her money with that evil dragon of hers. It sleeps on it and everything."

Sharpner froze. "It…it does?"

"It is a dragon," Videl said as if he were stupid. "Dragons like to sleep on piles of gold and jewels. Icarus is no different."

Sharpner seemed to think about this before saying "Well, that doesn't matter! I have the money now and you can't do anything about it!"

Videl popped her knuckles threateningly. "Wanna bet?" she growled.

"Guys, calm down," Gohan said as he stood between them. "Princess, would you feel better if you carried your money instead of one of us?"

Videl blinked at that. "Umm, yes...please," she said, not quite sure why he was saying this.

Gohan turned to Sharpner and said "Could you give me the money you barrowed from her? Before one of them threatens us with castration or something." Sharpner seemed to want to argue until he heard "something." Castration he knew, but "something" could be worse. Dropping his pack to the ground, he then rummaged in it before withdrawing several small bags of gold coins. Taking them, Gohan then held them towards Videl. "Since this is your money, I think it would be best if you held onto it."

Videl was taken back. She hadn't expected this, after all both young men seemed to be fully absorbed into themselves so far. Hesitantly, she accepted the bags, placing them in the space she kept her mallet. It was as safe a place as any and she didn't have any pockets she could keep anything in. "Umm, thank you," she said after awhile.

She just heard Gohan sigh before he began moving again, the group moving soon after. She could've sworn she heard him muttered "That's one less thing to worry about," but she couldn't be too sure. He could've just as easily said "She could've at least taking her clothes off in appreciation," but for the moment, she'd play nice.

Until he showed himself as a pervert again; then she'd let him have what he deserved.

* * *

><p>I got stuck on this one, right around the part of getting these four out of the castle. For some reason, I just couldn't...get...them...out...of there. So if their exit seems rushed or sudden...it's because it totally is lol.<p>

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	15. When She Lost Her Only Friend

Thank you all reviewers! This story has just passed the 100 review mark and I would like to extend my thanks for that. I hope everyone continues to enjoy this story and keeping reading. Reviews don't hurt either lol

* * *

><p><em>Year 663<em>

"…_and they lived happily ever after."_

_The small girl stared at her mother with wide eyes, excitement dancing in them. She always loved these stories, ones of princes falling in love with common girls. It was a dream that could happen to anyone, even her or so her mother said._

"_Mommy, do you think a prince will marry me?" she asked, awaiting the answer giddily._

"_Of course, Sweetheart," her mother answered. "A brave young man will come and sweep you off your feet and always love you. That's how it works for all little girls."_

"_When do you think it'll happen?"_

"_When you're older. Now it's time for—"_

"_No! I want it to happen now!" the girl protested, her arms crossing over her chest in a huff. "I don't wanna wait! Tell my prince to come for me now!"_

"_Now Sweetheart, if I could make your prince come for you, I would do it in a heartbeat," the mother said as she tried to soothe her daughter. "But I can't. You just need to wait patiently, do you understand? All good things come to people who wait."_

"_But it's not fair! Those girls in the stories don't have to wait! Why do I have to?"_

_The mother sighed this time. "Because that's the way things are. Now if you don't go to sleep, you won't be able to have your prince find you. You don't want that to happen, right?"_

_The little girl huffed. "Fine. But if my prince doesn't come soon, I'm going to find him!"_

_The mother smiled. "Good night, my little Erasa. Sweet dreams."_

* * *

><p>"What do you mean 'we should make camp'? I want to keep going! Get off your lazy butts and get moving!" Erasa screamed.<p>

Gohan grimaced. "But Erasa, it's getting dark. It wouldn't be a good idea if we kept going. It's best if we—"

"I don't care! We need to get to this city of yours so I can marry my prince! What's the worst that can happen anyways? Are you scared of the dark or something?"

"Well, we could hurt ourselves if we aren't careful," Gohan explained. "If someone gets injured, it'll take us longer to get to the capital. And there are wild animals and thieves and monsters out there. Any one of them would want to attack us if one of us is hurt and unable to keep moving."

Erasa stared at him for a moment before saying "I think this will make a great place to camp, do you not agree, Videl?"

"Yeah, whatever," Videl muttered as she looked about the place, her arms crossed over her arms. "Did one of you guys bring a bed with you? I highly doubt you are smart enough to carry one with you, but perhaps you will surprise me."

"Umm, a bed's too big to carry," Gohan replied, feeling a sweatdrop forming. Was this girl serious? A bed was too bulky to be carrying around on one's back. "We have some blankets you can use, which should be enough."

"You expect us girls to _sleep_ on the _ground_?" Erasa nearly shrieked. "We can't do that! I have to have a nice soft bed to sleep on! One of you, go get me a bed!"

"No can do, 'Princess,' Sharpner said as he carried a load of sticks in his arms. Up to this point, he had disappeared into the forest around them, searching for firewood. Obviously he was successful in that endeavor. Dumping the wood on the ground, he then said with an inviting look. "Though if you want something soft to sleep on, you can cuddle with me. I'm better than any bed you've ever had."

"I would rather cuddle with a rotting cow carcass," Videl replied, scowling. "Why did I even bother leaving my castle?" she then muttered to herself as she sat down on the ground. In the meantime, Gohan had moved over to the woodpile and immediately began starting a fire. Who knew traveling with princesses would be so nerve-grating?

As the flames began burning brightly, Gohan then moved to one of the packs, fishing out the blankets and some food. About the only thing they had on them at this point was bread and cheese, a shame that Sharpner hadn't thought of raiding Videl's food stores while they were there. It looked like he wouldn't be eating as much as he wanted to tonight. Walking to the girls first, he then offered them a blanket and some of the food.

Though they took the blanket without complaint, they stared blankly at there dinning option. "What is that?" Videl asked as she looked to the young man's face.

"It's dinner," Gohan replied, feeling the last of his nerves dying on him.

"Uhh, no it is not. Get me something else. I rather starve then eat something that measly."

This time he sighed. "This is all we have, so either eat it or starve for the night." Upon seeing both girls turn their nose up at the offering, indicating the both preferred starvation at this point, Gohan withdrew it from them, breaking the bread and cheese in half and giving a half of each to Sharpner. "Where's the closest village from here?" he asked the blond as began chewing, moving to the other side of the fire to sit down.

"We should reach it by tomorrow," Sharpner answered as he began to feast.

A vein began pulsing on Videl's forehead. "What, you two are not going to feed us now? What kind of men are you to allow women to starve?"

"But you declined what we offered," Gohan replied, looking towards her. "We can't help it if you don't want to eat what we have."

A growl came from the girl before she moved over to him, swiping the bread from him. Breaking a piece off, she stuffed it into her mouth and chewed with a menacing look on her face. It was clear that she wasn't happy.

Erasa, however, seemed to be more steadfast in her opposition. "You, Sharphead, go get me some food," she ordered.

"Hey, I'm no one's servant lady. If you want something else, you can go and get it yourself," Sharpner shot back, scowling. "Princesses," he then muttered, "such lazy people."

Erasa didn't seem to like that answer at all. "Fine, I'll get my own dinner! And you'll be jealous with what I get and want some, but I won't share because it'll be _my_ food. So there!" And with that, the blonde girl stood up and marched off down the trail, her figure disappearing into the growing darkness. As the fire crackled and popped, Gohan just stared out in the direction she went. For some reason, it didn't seem to sit well with him, sending out a girl all on her own.

"Um, Sharpner? Do you think it was a good idea to do that?" he asked the blond, who didn't seem to mind.

"Don't worry. She'll be back sooner or later."

"You know, if she doesn't come back, we'll need to find her," Gohan said. "I doubt the Princess here would want to take her place." Upon seeing Videl giving him the evil eye, he was quite sure on his point. "Who knows what trouble she could get herself into."

"Like I said, don't worry. Really, how much trouble could she get into? She's only a girl and one that probably would get lost the moment she stepped off the trail. She'll be back, they always come back."

This time, Videl turned her glare to the blond. "And if Erasa gets hurt, what then? If she ends up getting hurt, I will personally gut you like a fish and choke you to death with your entrails."

Sharpner swallowed a bit. "No need for threats," he said in a higher octave. "Just wait. I bet you she'll be here by morning."

* * *

><p>The sun was rising into the sky, casting a dull light that grew brighter with each passing minute. The darkness of the woods shrank into the depths of the trees, revealing the green leaves, grass, and moss along with the brown bark of the trees.<p>

The only thing it didn't reveal was Erasa.

For that, Sharpner was lying on the ground, his mouth bubbling blood and small X's crossing over his eyes. Standing above him was Videl, who looked like she wanted to see more of his precious blood seeping out onto the ground. The only reason why she hadn't satisfied that urge was because of Gohan, who was holding her back in a full nelson. She only knew that because the young man yelled it out as he grabbed onto her.

"Let me go! He deserves to die! I want his insides lying out by sundown!" Videl screeched, struggling to get out of the hold. Unfortunately for her, Gohan proved to be too strong for the thrashing she was doing. It looked like she needed to turn it up a notch.

Throwing more effort, the Princess began to think that she had the peasant boy. In fact, she could feel his arms loosening. Then as if to put her back in her place, the arms tightened and refused to budge. For a moment, Videl felt more like a little child struggling to get out of her daddy's arms—not that she knew how that felt…well…there was that one time, but that was it! And unlike that time, she wasn't in her daddy's arms, so the thought of bawling her eyes out until Gohan gave in went right out the window.

"Videl, calm down," the young man said, surprisingly calm despite the random thrashing. "Calm down or I won't let you go. I can do this all day you know."

It was a day for surprises though, despite the day barely even starting. Ending her struggling, the Princess began to relax, a sour look on her face. Though calming down, Gohan didn't let her go, for what she wasn't sure of. Perhaps he thought she'd make a dash to mutilate his friend once he let her go…hey, that wasn't a bad idea. And crud, if she had thought of it just now, it was very likely that he already considered the option. Looked as if she would have to cooperate with him for now. She could kill that blond jerk when his bodyguard wasn't looking.

And as if he were reading her mind—she certainly hoped he wasn't though; that would makes things very unpleasant—Gohan lowered her to the ground, releasing his hold on her. Sighing aloud, he then said "It looks like we'll have to go find your friend. I don't think she could have gotten too far."

"Just like she was suppose to come back, right?" Videl said with steel in her voice.

Gohan moved one of his hands to the back of his head, scratching it nervously. "I'm sorry about that. I think Sharpner underestimated her determination. Don't worry though, we'll get her back."

"I most certainly hope so. If anything happens to her, that idiot on the ground will not be the only one being disemboweled."

Gohan stared at her for awhile before giving a _very_ nervous grin. "How about we have some breakfast?"

Videl cocked an eyebrow at him. "Can you make a decent breakfast? Oh wait, I almost forgot; you only have bread and cheese on you. Looks like a _good_ and _nutritious_ meal is out of the question. Why did I even bother coming out with you idiots again?"

A sour look overcame his face, adding to her contentment. She wasn't going to be the only person miserable right now and since this guy with the funny hair was the only one conscious at the moment, he was going to share her misery whether he liked it or not. At this moment, she was very sure it was not.

As he began rummaging in the packs, he called out, "You know, it could be worse."

"Oh really? And pray tell, how could this possibly be any worse?"

With a shrug he said "The bread could be moldy."

"Well that's a relief. I mean, wow, we could be eating bad food. One of us could get sick and possibly die!" Videl ranted sarcastically. Really, this guy sucked at cheering people up. It was a good thing it wasn't his day job, assuming he had one to begin with.

Gohan didn't say any more, opting to just hand her something to stuff in her face and keep her quiet. At least that what she thought he was thinking. That was fine by her, since she had nothing more to say to him. It wasn't as if she needed his conversation to survive.

"So why were you in that castle?" Gohan asked her, surprising her a little bit. After all, she wasn't expecting any small talk from the guy. Too bad he had to ask such a dumb question though.

Giving him a look that told him just exactly how stupid she thought that question was, she answered "Because of that demon guy kidnapping that kid years ago. Why else?"

For a moment, she could've sworn the young man flinched. Odd, she couldn't help but notice that he wasn't reacting to the tone of her voice and more too the answer itself. Perhaps he realized just how stupid that question was. Yeah, that had to be it.

"But…it's been twelve years since that happened. Shouldn't you have returned to your home by now?" Oooh, looked like he did have some kind of brain in that noggin of his. He had just asked her a semi-intelligent question. Thank Kami.

Shrugging, the Princess replied "That place was nice enough. After everything calmed down from the kidnapping, my father became paranoid about suitors coming for my hand, so he decided to make them work for it. That's why there was that field of booby traps in front of my castle."

"But I thought you said you put those there to keep Erasa out."

"The more recent ones, yes. But most of the ground work was done by my father. Besides, it was fun watching some of the knights getting blown into smithereens while trying to cross it." That reply left Gohan staring at her bewildered. Some brain activity was occurring, that much Videl could tell, but that activity didn't translate into spoke word. Served him right.

That was when some movement occurred behind her, followed by some low moaning. It looked like the blond idiot was returning to consciousness. Moments later, the guy appeared in her peripheral vision, moving towards the seated Gohan. As it so happened, the packs were right next to the young man, so Videl assumed that was what he was going for, though she felt much satisfaction as the blond made a wide birth around her. And as she expected, the blond reached into one of the packs, pulling out a piece of cloth and began wiping it against his mouth, cleaning off the blood there. A satisfied smirk appeared on her lips right before she nibbled into her bread slice.

"I really could've started my day without this pounding in my head," Sharpner whined, one of his hands rubbing against his temple.

At this Videl snorted. "Then you should not have let my friend go out by herself. What were you possibly thinking, letting a defenseless girl like her run around by herself? Were you even thinking?"

"Ha ha ha," the blond retorted. "I didn't see you trying too hard to go after her yourself, _Princess_." Hmm…he had a point, not that she would admit to it. And what was with that emphasis on "Princess" anyways?

"That's not important," she said snootily, which got a couple of snorts from the young men. Oh, so they wanted to be that way huh? "Well, you two are the ones that lost her and you can sure bet your worthless lives that you are going to find her. If you refuse, well, you are going to have to find some other upper-class girl to take with you."

Sharpner cocked an eyebrow. "And you would find your way back to your little castle? Ha! You couldn't find your way out of a burlap bag!"

"I would be better off trying to find my way home than hanging around you clowns," Videl shot back. "If this is _any_ indication of how you two travel, I am probably going to end up getting lost too. When that happens, I rather it be because I chose to get lost instead of you nimrods doing it for me."

"Both of you, calm done," Gohan interjected. "Everyone is feeling high strung about Erasa; no need for us to rip each others' heads off. We're going to find her and that's that."

Sharpner shook his head as he pressed his bloodied cloth to his mouth. "Whatever."

Videl just glared at the dark-haired youth before turning back to her meager breakfast. For once, she and Sharpner were in agreement. Whatever.

* * *

><p>RyRy tested; MaMa approved.<p> 


	16. Losing Her Temper in the Process

It was a feeling she didn't like. Nope, not one bit. She was lost, just like that blond guy said she would be and she hated the fact that he was right. He would probably gloat about that fact if they ever found her. Well, she would just show them! She would find her way out of this damn forest and meet them at this capital city place they kept talking about. She couldn't wait to see their faces as she sat at one of those café places she heard so much about, sipping on a frosty drink of some kind. And she would be eating something other than bread and cheese! Ha! She would show them all!

With renewed confidence, Erasa began her trek. She could handle anything that could be thrown her way.

Everything except for the world suddenly tilting up and the ground rushing up to her that is. "Owwwwww" Erasa whined as she raised her head up. That had hurt! Who would do such a thing to a girl like her? Looking towards her feet, she saw a small rock innocently sitting nearby. Now why did that mean, old rock trip her? She'd never done anything to it! Picking herself up, the blonde moved to pick the rock up, finding herself straining to pulling it out of the ground. When she finally did, she then threw it as far as she could, the rock hitting a tree and falling to the ground.

Dusting her hands off, Erasa then said "Take that," before turning her back to the rock, sticking her nose up into the air, and walking haughtily off. See? Nothing would get in her way, not even a rock.

It would be some time later that she ran into her next obstacle, which just so happened to be in whistling form.

An appreciative whistling might she add.

"Well this is indeed something new. I don't believe I've had the pleasure to run into such a lovely young lady in these here woods," a man said in very colorful cloths. Orange pants, a green shirt with a sign on it, and other assorted things made the fashinista part of Erasa cringe. Though she appreciated his compliment, she had to hold her tongue as to her feelings of his wardrobe.

And unfortunately for her, there were several other men lounging about in the trees or on the ground, each wearing the exact same style, nearly sending the blonde into convulsions. Really, one person might, _might_ be excused for having a bad fashion-sense, but not an entire group. So that is why she only mustered a polite "Thank you, good sir." She didn't trust her mouth with anything else.

"Looks like the purdy girl has her tongue on a cat!" one of the men roared with laughter, which caused the first guy to frown his scarred face.

"It's 'cat got her tongue,' not the other way around," he corrected him before giving an apologetic look to Erasa. "Sorry about that. He hasn't quite gotten the hang of metaphors yet."

Erasa just waved it off, though she wasn't quite sure why he was apologizing. It should've been the idiot that said it, not him. However, she might be able to get some use out of this guy. "Would you be so kind as to tell me which way the capital is? I have seemed to become lost in this forest."

A few men lit up at that statement, causing Erasa to have a slight sinking feeling. The leader shrugged his shoulders though, his shaggy black hair moving about slightly. "I know the way," he said in a bored tone. "But you see, I don't do things for free. If I were to point you in the right way, I need to have some sort of compensation."

Erasa was taken back by this. Here she was, a helpless girl and he was telling her she had to pay him for help? "Who do you think you are?" she demanded, though she meant to keep that in the confines of her head.

The scarred man grinned. "No such thing as a free lunch ma'am and I intend to make sure I keep getting them lunches. In these parts, I am known as Yamcha Hood. You may have heard about me. I steal from the rich and I steal from the poor."

All the while, Erasa blinked her eyes owlishly. "Yamma Hood? I have never head of someone with that name."

This time the man looked angry while his men roared with laughter. "That's _Yamcha_ Hood. Yam-cha." Shaking his head as he crossed his arms over his chest, he muttered "Kids today don't have any respect for their elders."

"But Boss, you're younger than most of us," one of the men said, causing a vain to begin pulsing on Yamcha's forehead. The rest of the men than began joining in on the teasing, which caused their leader to begin losing his temper.

"Don't make me use you for target practice!" he shouted at them, each and every one of them falling silent. Satisfied with the response, he turned his attention back to Erasa. "Now where were we? Oh right, getting you to the capital. Now, if you just hand over a few gold coins, I'll personally see to it that you arrive there safe and sound. Sound like a good deal?"

Hmmm, Erasa had to admit that was a very tempting offer. In fact…yeah, she'll accept it. Now what did he say he wanted in return? Money? Uh oh…

"I would like to accept your offer, good sir, but I do not have any money on me. But I will have some when we get to the—"

Again, he shrugged. "Sorry, I can't help you then. No money, no help-y." Looking at her distraught expression, his eyes began looking up and down form. "Though, perhaps you can pay me with…something else?"

Erasa tilted her head to a side in puzzlement. "What…what do you mean 'something else'?"

Yamcha grinned as he took a few steps towards her, his arms held out. "It shouldn't be too hard to figure out," he said. A blush soon appeared on his face he began thinking of this "something else," an odd chuckle coming from his lips. If Erasa had to call it anything, she almost believed he was thinking of naughty things, since all the perverts she had ever met did such ac…

Wait, was _that_ the "something else" he was talking about?

Clenching her hands into fists, anger began rising in the blonde's chest. Oh, so they thought she was _that_ kind of girl huh? Just because she was pretty and blonde, they thought she would do such things that she only intended to do with her prince. Looking from Yamcha Hood's face, she could see similar lecherous expressions on his men's faces. Oh, so they wanted in on it too huh?

Steeling her resolve, Erasa unclenched her hands and moved them to the front of her dress. Grabbing onto her bellowing skirt, she raised it up, causing all the men to focus their attention on her suddenly appearing, yet shapely legs. Holding as much of the skirt as she could in her arms, she maneuvered her hands until they disappeared within dress. Drool could be seen pouring out of all the men's mouths, a chorus of those odd chuckles coming from them.

Pulling her hands back out, they held a large, mechanized crossbow, its entire body made of metal. Mostly of iron with bronze decoration, the monstrosity was a sight to behold. Holding it against her shoulder, Erasa took aim at the men through the circular eyesight and pulled the weapon's trigger, a barrage of arrows flying as a circular cylinder part of the crossbow spun around without abandon.

* * *

><p>Gohan, Videl, and Sharpner just stared at the sight, their mouths held wide open and their eyes bulging from their sockets. There was even some drool coming from the blond of the group if one were to look carefully. Never had any of them seen such a sight before.<p>

Arrows stuck out of everything the eye could see. Trees, bushes, dirt, leaves, and rocks were violated by arrowheads, the wooden shafts sticking out without a care in the world. Yet that wasn't the exact reason why the three of them were rooted to their respective places. It was the men pinned to the various vegetation that did.

All were dressed in similar outfits and colors. The only things that made them different other than their body sizes were the positions that they were pinned in. A few men were on the ground while some were held against the trees, the main reason being the arrows sticking through their shirts and pants and into the back and ground. For the men in the trees, some were upright, a couple were upside down, and one guy that faced the tree rather than outwards.

Out of all of the men though, one had been given special attention. Most of this clothes were tore, long red lines covering his body, obviously were the arrowheads had sliced into them as they passed by. Yet there was enough clothing on him to hold him in his spot, which just so happened to be on a rock and an uncomfortable-looking one to boot. But what really stuck out was the number of arrows that outlined one particular area of his body, that being his groin. Just the sight of it would make any man burst into tears from the inhumanity of it. And if there was one person the three could name for this, just one person that was capable of such accuracy and damage, it was Erasa. After all, she did have an affinity for crossbows. There was no telling how many she went through to get this result though.

"H-hey there," the man on the rock called out nervously. He didn't look like much to the group, especially with his long hair in disarray. He had scars on his face and while their presence would normally proclaim the man to be a tough guy, right now they made him look even more pitiful than he was. "W-would you mind helping us out here? We're kinda stuck."

Out of all of them, it was Videl who replied to him, both of the young men with her too absorbed at the gathering of shafts next to his special place. "You mind telling us what happened here?"

Many groans and whimpers came from the other men, but nothing intelligible could be made out. Ultimately, it was the man on the rock that said something that made some sort of sense. "I-It was…a nightmare. A nightmare I tell you!"

Videl cocked an eyebrow. "And what was this nightmare?"

The man gulped. "Me and my men here, we were just minding our own business when this small girl in this poufy dress showed up. She said she was lost and we offered to help her out. We were talking about a price when out of nowhere she pulled out this monster of a crossbow and started shooting at us! She did all of this and didn't even break a sweat!"

That was when the guys broke out of their stupor and joined the conversation. "What kind of price did you work out?" Gohan inquired.

The man looked about nervously before saying "W-well she said she had no money, so we starting talking about…a certain service…"

"And what was this 'service'?" Videl asked.

"Well…uhhh…it's not exactly something you…uhh…tell to ladies and such…" he stuttered.

It seemed Sharpner got the man's message. "Do you mean this?" he asked as he began thrusting his hips back and forth.

"Y-yeah, that."

That was when the area felt as if it dropped several degrees, chilling every man there to the bone. Kneeling down between the man's spread legs, Videl reached out and gripped one of the arrows. "Give me one good reason why I should not finish the job that she started?" she said in a deadly tone.

"Because that would harm any chance I have of having children of my own?"

Yanking the arrow out, she replied "That is not helping your case."

Sputtering, the man tried to come up with something, anything that would spare him the impending pain that he knew throughout his entire body that he wanted to avoid. Unfortunately, he wasn't coming up with anything. And then "I-I-I could tell y-y-you which d-direction she w-went…"

"Keep going" Videl said with narrowed eyes.

"Promise me you'll spare my man parts and I'll tell you!"

"I will put it under consideration; now tell me."

Tossing his head to a side, he kept nodding in the same direction over and over, mostly due to the fact that his arms and hands were currently occupied at the moment. "That way! That way!" he all but screamed.

Standing up, Videl dropped the arrow, much to the relief of all the people with a Y-chromosome—which was pretty much everyone but her. Staring at her fearfully, the man began stuttering again. "Please, don't hurt me. I…I…I have money. A lot of it! You can have it all! Just don't do anything to me…"

"And where is this money?"

"Over there! Behind the trees! There are backpacks and supplies. You'll find it easy!"

Looking to the young men, Videl jerked her head to the trees. "Go find it. We'll take some of his money for all the trouble he gave Erasa." Not wanting to upset the girl, the two hurried to the trees, quickly finding the packs. After rummaging in them, they found quite a bit of money, taking much of it, though due to Gohan they left some for the men. A guilty conscience can do that to a man after all. So to compensate somewhat, they raided their food, getting enough for a couple days of meals. When they were done, they announced they had what they needed and were ready to go.

Yet Videl had her focus completely on the man before her. Without even looking at the two, she suddenly began attacking the helpless man, raising one of her legs up and stomping on his stomach over and over, causing him to shrilly cry out in pain. A look of unadultered rage covered her face with each stomp she did. It took the combined efforts of Gohan and Sharpner to drag her away, Videl screaming that she would do much worse if she ever saw him again.

When peace and quiet reigned down on the men, it was then one of them said "Did they just leave us here?"

"What, you want to ask that crazy girl to help us out?" one of the others asked. "You're crazy man, crazy."

"Then how are we going to get free?"

A low groaning sound came from all the men. It was going to be awhile until someone sane arrived to help.

* * *

><p>To I'm a person: Just can't satisfy your desire for more huh? Hopefully this chapter helps lol<p>

I hope y'all recognize that mega-crossbow Erasa was using. I snatched it from Van Helsing because I wanted our little blonde princess to have an ultimate weapon and since she just _loves_ crossbows in this story, that weapon fits in very well. Also, it's an awesome crossbow. Probably unrealistic considering a crossbow's structure and limited capability, but how can you not like sending a torrent of sharp arrows at someone?

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	17. Getting Robbed Didn't Help Either

Wow, that was quite a reaction I got for the last chapter. Thank you everone that reviewed! I really appreciate them!

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><p><em>Year 660<em>

_Piccolo stared at the child suspiciously. _He didn't know or understand who this brat thought he was, nor did he care what he wanted, but he knew this much_: there was no way in heaven or hell he would do it. Nuh uh, no way, absolutely not. He was a Demon Lord, a man that commanded fear and respect throughout the lands despite his present circumstance. He was terrible, cruel, and merciless._

_And terrible, cruel, and merciless demons did _not_ read bedtime stories to little children._

"_No," he said harshly, turning his back on the child. This was done for more than one reason. Obviously he wanted to show the child that he did not care whether he slept comfortably or not. He was cold and emotionless._

_Another reason was because that damn brat had this unnatural power to make him do things he would never consider doing in this life or the next dozen, and it all occurred with his face. This one look would destroy his resolve and stone-like image to rubble with just a glance. A glance! But this wasn't any ordinary look, mind you. The best he could describe this look was that it looked like a wounded puppy. While seeing an actual wounded puppy would have no affect on him—in fact he would have probably ate the damn thing—the way it was presented on the five year old's face proved too much for him to resist. So in order not to fall for it (…again), he refused to look at him._

"_Please Mr. Piccolo? Please tell me a bedtime story?" the child said with that annoying little voice, full of disgusting need and wretchedness. It would've broken his heart if he had one and he was pretty sure he didn't have one. Yet that voice did everything it could to prove him wrong._

"_I said no!" he barked, causing the child to shrink away and make a whimpering sound._

_It was several moments later that he heard the brat speak up again. "Please? Pretty please, Mr. Piccolo?"_

_Feeling something tugging at his cloak, Piccolo knew better than to look. He just knew he shouldn't, yet his curiosity betrayed him as he looked to his side and saw that blasted look on his face._

_No. No, no, no, no, No, No, NO, NO! He was NOT falling for it. There was NO way he would, even as the child's pouting bottom lip began trembling. He was strong, he was resolved, he was…_

…_he was sighing in defeat as the words "Oh alright, you damn brat," left his own lips. Kami damn it. Kami damn it all._

_Looking away from the kid, he stared out for several moments before looking back at him, seeing Gohan smiling brilliantly at him. It was starting to sicken him. "Go lay down! I won't tell you it if you don't," he barked once more._

_Instead of cowering like he wanted him to, Gohan just nodded his head cheerfully and walked over to the packs, resting against them as he pulled his little blanket on him. "I'm ready," he said soon after._

_Grimacing, Piccolo turned around and began wondering what in the world he was going to tell him. Feeling completely at a loss, he began "Once upon a time…"_

* * *

><p>It was peaceful, quiet even. The sun was descending from high noon, animals were frolicking in the forest, and bugs were annoying what ever unfortunate person they could find. Fortunately for our three weary travelers, they weren't the targets of those bugs.<p>

Unfortunately, they had yet to catch up to Erasa.

Because of this fact, Videl was more than peeved. She still hadn't calmed down from their encounter with Erasa's victims. Thankfully she hadn't been able to keep any of the arrows that covered the place, otherwise Gohan and Sharpner would have had to keep on their toes more than they already were. Regardless of that fortunate bit of news, the longer the Princess was without her friend, the more irritable she got.

Not a very good development for them.

On top of that, the food they managed to get from the men weren't of the best quality. It was only a couple days old at worst, which wasn't a big deal for the two young men, but it meant the world to the Princess. It was like watching a keg of powder just moments away from being ignited.

"At least we have some meat," Gohan had said, trying to placate the steamed young woman.

"Meat that could spoil at any minute!" she all by roared at the young man, causing him to flinch away. "Do you even _know_ what spoiled meat can do to a person? Huh? You have to be an idiot to eat that!" Taking a quick look at Sharpner, she then pointed at the blond and added "Like him!"

It wasn't coincidence that Sharpner happened to be biting into one of the slabs of meat at the moment. "Meergh, muphg, nahgs," the blond retorted, his mouth full of food. Giving him a disgusted look, Videl looked to Gohan, who was sweatdropping as one of his hands scratched the back of his head.

"Sharpner, you might want to speak without your mouth full," the dark-haired youth said.

Chewing for several moments, Sharpner then swallowed what he was biting into and then said "I said 'what?'"

Both Videl and Gohan blinked at him. "Are you sure?" Gohan asked. "It sounded as if you said a lot more than just that."

"I'm pretty sure I know what I said."

"I have no idea how you two can be so cavalier," Videl spoke up, getting their attention again. "We have yet to find Erasa and instead you two are talking about the inconsistency of translations between gibberish and something intelligible. Can either of you two tell me what is wrong with that?"

Sharpner and Gohan looked at each other cluelessly before shrugging their shoulders at the Princess. As a vein began pulsing on her forehead, she then shouted at them with a hurricane-like force that caused the surrounding area to flail about helplessly "ERASA IS NOT HERE! NOW GET OFF YOUR USELESS ASSES AND GO FIND HER!"

It took several seconds for both young men to recover their hearing. It took even longer for them to gather enough wit to try and talk to the pissed-off girl. When they did though, it was Gohan who tried to reason with her. "We know Erasa came this way so there's only so much ground she can cover between her run-in with those guys from earlier and our own run-in. Also, I think this place looks familiar. If I'm right, there should be a village somewhere nearby. It's very likely she went there."

"So if she is heading to the village, WHY ARE WE NOT GOING THERE TOO?"

Okay, Videl did have a point about that. There really wasn't a good reason for them to be stopped at the moment and there seemed to be plenty of daylight about—

Almost as if to bail the men out, Gohan felt and heard his stomach growl. "Beeeecause it's lunch time and we don't do very well without our lunch!" For once, that wasn't some lamebrain excuse he had come up with. The last time he and Sharpner had tried to do something after skipping lunch, they both had ended up pissing off some crazy witch in a candy house.

As Videl began glaring daggers at him, not the least bit believing his reasoning, Sharpner came up with a plan. "Gohan, why don't you and the princess here go search the woods? Erasa might be out here still," he said. "Meanwhile, since the food we got isn't up to the Princess's standards, I'm going to go find the village and get us some more supplies. If I run into Erasa there, I'll bring her back with me. We'll meet up right here at the campsite."

Without even waiting for any confirmation from the two, Sharpner got up, retrieve the money they had received, and took off into the woods, leaving them all alone. As the dark-haired youths looked at each other, one angry and the other stupefied, Gohan got the feeling that there was no way he would make it through the night without having some part of his body bruised or broken from the building wrath of the Princess.

* * *

><p>"Stupid, stuck-up, tiny, little #%$&amp;," Sharpner muttered as he trampled about the woods. Thank Kami he came up with this idea to get away from her; she was starting to drive him nuts! That wouldn't stop him from banging her later, but right now he had a migraine and wasn't in the mood for such fun. Truly a crime if he ever knew one.<p>

Now where was that village again? It was somewhere in this direction the blond believed. After all, it was the last place of civilization he and Gohan had stumbled upon before reaching the mountains and subsequently the two more-trouble-than-they-were-worth princesses. Never had he met two people that were just so whiny and angry all the time. Yes, he had met such women before, but that was because they were going through a certain time of the month; though for some reason they kept acting that way towards him before and after that period too. Probably because he hadn't deigned them the privilege of being one of his conquests. That would make anyone crabby.

As he crashed through some bushes, the blond soon found himself in what looked like a campsite, though one he was pretty sure wasn't his; his yellow markings weren't anywhere in sight. There was a small fire burning with a large sack nearby. He couldn't see anyone nearby so he assumed the person staying here was out doing something campy.

That assumption died a quick death though as the cool edge of a knife pressed up against his throat. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" a feminine voice said, one full of confidence and a very weird accent. Of course, Sharpner didn't care about those since he had a freakin' knife touching him.

"Mind tellin' me why yous is stomping around like some blind alliphant?" the woman said, her other hand pressing into his back, indicating he should start moving, which he did. Thankfully the knife moved forward with him.

"I'm just looking for the village around here, that's all," he said, hoping that was the correct answer. He wasn't very good at answering test questions after all.

"Is that so? Too bad. Yous almost made it too."

The next few minutes were a blur to the blond. The only thing he could remember about it was that somewhere in the middle of it all, he started screaming.

Like a girl.

* * *

><p>Gohan rushed through the undergrowth, a frantic look on his face. He had heard a scream, one so girlish there was only one person it could possibly be. Unfortunately, Videl refused to let him out of her sight to go investigate, nor was willing to run after him. So the young man was forced to carry her on his back, his arms holding onto her legs as her arms wrapped around his neck. It was a bit uncomfortable, especially with the small girl bouncing around on his back and choking him while she did it. It was a very uncomfortable experience.<p>

Fortunately, they had closed in on the source of the screaming. However, instead of finding a poor, defenseless girl being accosted by mean-looking brutes, they found a normal little clearing with various articles of men's clothing lying about. Most of them hung from the branches of trees, almost as if they had been tossed into the air without a care of where they went. There were also the remains of an extinguished fire nearby as well.

And not too far from the burnt wood and ash was a semi-nude Sharpner, unconscious, and tied to a tree by several coils of rope. The only thing that was covering him was his boxer shorts with an enlarged picture of a cute bunny rabbit on them. The rabbit was the first thing to draw the attention of youths and both had similar reactions to it.

"Why is Sharpner wearing boxers with a bunny on it?" Gohan asked.

"Why the hell is that idiot naked?" Videl asked. Okay, so there were slightly different questions, but the fact remained that they were both about Sharpner.

And it was at this point that Sharpner awoke from nothingness. Immediately, he began crying like a child, bawling his eyes out. He only grew louder when his eyes settled on his companions. "She took everything!" he sobbed.

"Who took what?" Gohan asked, looking at the blond as if the last thing he wanted to do was get near him. It was slightly unnerving to see a grown man crying.

"This blonde chick! She put a knife to me and beat me up and took my clothes off and tied me to a tree and took all of my money! There wasn't any kinky sex either! She was crazy I tell you, CRAZY!" It was then that Sharpner paused in his crying, looking as if he hadn't been shedding tears for a single second. "She was hot though," he commented absently. Then he returned to his crying once more.

Immediately, Gohan felt Videl's arms pull tightly together, choking him in the process. "You lost all of our money?" she shrieked, obviously not pleased. She didn't even seem to care she was suffocating her human pack mule.

"But she held a knife at me!" Sharpner blubbered in his defense, squirming in his binding. "And she tied me up! I thought she was just kinky and wanted to have her way with me but she didn't even pay attention to me! She just punched me a bunch of times and—"

Videl released her hold on Gohan, the young man collapsing to the ground as he sucked in precious oxygen. Stepping over him, Videl stormed her way to the annoying blond and grabbed a fist full of his hair and pulling it to her, causing Sharpner to cry in pain. "You idiot! Now we don't have any money! How are we supposed to get any food if our money is gone!" Not even giving the blond enough time to answer, Videl began slamming his head repeatedly into the tree truck, his cry growing louder with each hit his head took on the tree.

"Videl?" Gohan said as he tried to get her attention. "If you keep hitting Sharpner's head like that, you might destroy what's left of his brain."

"That's the idea!"

Gohan sighed. What was it with him having to separate Videl from her victims lately? That hadn't been in the job description when he accepted it. Grabbing her around her waist, he pulled her away from Sharpner, pulling some of his hair out as Videl refused to let his yellow locks go. The girlish shriek that left his lips told them exactly how the loss affected him. But for some odd reason, instead of struggling in his arms like she usually did, Videl stayed still, seething as smoke leaked out of her ears. It was a good thing he was behind her because Gohan felt he would've been curled up on the ground and crying out of fear from the expression that was on her face. Kinda like Sharpner at the moment. Since he didn't want to send the princess further into her anger, he opted to not tell her to calm down. He had a feeling something bad would happen if he did so.

It was some time later, when Sharpner's sniveling came to an end and Videl wasn't so stiff in his arms that the young man felt it was time he said something. "I think it would be a good idea if we went to the village. Perhaps we can get come up with a plan to get back on track."

Pulling herself out of his arms, Videl began stomping away, clearing going for the village. There was just one slight problem.

"Uhh, Videl? The village is the other way."

The princess stopped in her tracks. Turning around, she sent a scowl at the boy so severe, he felt like soiling his pants. In fact, there were a couple of very inviting bushes nearby that he decided on using at that moment. Turning to them, Gohan immediately disappeared in them, the leaves ruffling as he did his business. This, of course, made the princess glare at the bushes, which in turn caused all the leaves to begin wilting moments later. Gohan soon appeared with his pants halfway down his legs and squatting, looking like…well, like a person caught with their pants down.

Immediately, Videl covered her face. "Eww! Gross!" she shouted before turning around. "Do you not have any decency?"

Okay, now that wasn't fair. She was the one that took away his cover. This was her fault! And he was going to tell her just that…except he needed some alone time and he was pretty sure he had it now.

* * *

><p>To I'm a person: mmmm...cookies...hugs...what more could you ask for?<p>

To nameless reviewer: A very good point. She probably did have a few stashed in there for emergencies.

I hope some of you recognize the bunny boxers. Sharpner wore a similar pair in another story of mine...and Ms. Videl Son's...and dbz-lover91's. Anyway, couldn't resist having them make another appearence.

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	18. They Made a New Friend

Good news! Chapter Arts for Chapters 10, 11, and 12 are up and Chapter 12 is in COLOR!

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><p><em>Year 659<em>

_He had been forced from his cell as the sun reached midday. So they wanted a very public spectacle made of his execution._

_Insufferable dogs._

_Lord Piccolo I was bound in leg irons and arm shackles, chains connecting each shackle to the other. Magic seals had been branded onto his body, to ensure he couldn't escape nor stop the day's proceedings. He didn't fault the logic on that but he was pretty sure the usual paints would do just fine. He supposed they just wanted to cause him extra discomfort._

_Ha, idiots. If they wanted to torture him, they should've done it right. Beat and burn his body weeks, if not months before they killed him, not the day before. His pain would be ending shortly._

_They marched him from his cell and through the prison corridors that had not been used in years. Dust had gathered on all the walls, the exception being the floor as the guard before Piccolo left their tracks behind them._

_They reached what appeared to be a dead end at some point. Appeared, being the key word. Pushing in one of the stones, the wall shifted out of their path to one side, reveal a very short corridor on the other side. Moving once more, Piccolo and his guard arrived shortly at the end, daylight pouring onto them. Closing his eyes, the Demon Lord waited for his eyes to begin adjusting to the sudden change of light, soon finding himself standing on a large wooden platform. In the middle of it, a round, knee-high altar stood. It was polished thoroughly, though no amount of cleaning could rid the surface of a large, dull red coloring on its surface._

_Beyond the platform stood droves of common people, the ones that made Lord Piccolo look at in disgust. If only he could use his magic, he would give them a sight that would bring fear to them at the mention of his name. Now, they were like cockroaches boasting of their righteousness, clamoring for his head._

_Worthless lifeforms, all of them._

_Once again, he was ordered to walk forward, stopping in front of the altar. A moment later two of his guards forced him onto his knees, causing him to grunt in protest. Some official came out and began pronouncing his guilt and atrocities to the crowd, who grew more boisterous with each word uttered. Piccolo ignored every word of it. Finally, the official came to him and asked if he had any last words._

"_I do," Lord Piccolo said, mustering up all the pride worthy of someone of his station. "Though you end my life, justifying it with what ever reasons you have, rejoice. You bring down a 'great evil' that has the audacity to do what you yourself were too weak to do. Strike me down, vanquish me, toss my rotting carcass into the great burning inferno of torment, but know this: I shall await each and every one of you at the Gates of Hell. And I will return to you ten, no a hundred times the suffering you have paid to me these last few days. I am a Demon Lord in this life and I will be one in the next. Now get on with this charade. The Devil is waiting."_

_A twisted smirk appeared on the Demon Lord's lips. It seemed his final words had put the crowd in a bit of silence. Good. Let them fear death more than their measly lives already did. Though the guards wore stone for faces, the official looked at him in contempt before giving the final order. The guards at his side leaned him to lay on the altar, his head turned away from the executioner, the man dawned in black and holding a heavy ax in his hand. Lifting it, the executioner held his stance for several moments._

_And then the ax came down._

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><p>The village was just like any other Gohan had been to. Nice, peaceful, full of people doing what was required of them to get through the day as children played without a care in the world. He had seen them a million times and he was sure he would see them a million times more.<p>

However, Videl seemed completely captivated with the place, almost as if she had never seen such a place before. Her eyes were wide, soaking in everything she could see. Her head would move from side to side, up and down, and any other way she possibly could. She all but ignored her travel companions the entire time.

Speaking of companions, Gohan eyed a very grumpy Sharpner. He hadn't been in the best of moods after they—he had untied him from the tree. It was probably because it took awhile for him to get all of his clothes back since most of them had been tossed into the trees. When it was all said and done, he hadn't been a very happy person.

Also, he didn't seem quite too happy about a couple bald patches on his scalp courtesy of Videl ripping the locks right off. In fact, she was still holding onto them for some reason. Gohan wasn't too sure why.

Not quite up to the task of talking to either of them, one because of his grumpiness and the other for her wonder, Gohan began looking for a shop, hoping they could get some sort of supplies. Though they didn't have any money on them, Gohan was sure he could pay the bill through labor. After all, that was what Piccolo made him do when they needed things. For some reason though, the green man made him do all of the hard work, claiming it would make a man out of him. Gohan just figured he was being lazy but really couldn't do anything about it at the time.

And wouldn't you know it? At one of the wooden buildings was the very place he was looking for, a large sign hanging near its entrance had the words "Kum & Go" painted on it. Heading that way, Gohan didn't pay any mind to his travel companions who followed after him. Neither really knew where they were going but when presented with some sort of direction, they followed without question.

The ringing of a bell greeted them as they entered the shop, a string attacked to the bell and door being the culprit. They soon saw a large room filled with shelves that were covered with various items. On the other side of the room was a long wooden counter with a middle-aged man behind it, sitting on a stool and looking bored out of his mind. Eyeing the three, he called out to them with a bored tone "Welcome o' weary travelers. What can I do for you?"

"Hello!" Gohan returned the greeting with a smile. "We need to pick up some supplies for a long trip."

The man rolled his eyes. "Of course you do," he said in a sarcastic tone. "Bring your packs up here before you shop. I don't want you hiding some of my merchandise in them."

"Of course," Gohan said as he took his pack off, walking towards the counter. Unfortunately, Videl spoke up right before he reached it.

"What do you think you are doing? We lack any form of currency so we cannot even buy anything here." she said, causing the young man to wince. Already, he could see the store clerk's eyes flash irritably. He didn't seem like a man who liked dealing with penniless vagabonds.

"If you don't have any money on you, then you can leave. Now," he spoke, his voice brokering no argument.

Fortunately, Gohan had been in many of such confrontations. He knew exactly what to do. "Well sir, I was wondering if there was any other way I could purchase your merchandise. I can do chores for you, even build a barn for you if you need it."

The man snorted. "Kid, I want money, not anything else. Anything less is useless."

Gohan frowned. Well this wasn't the way it was suppose to go. Usually the guy would be fear-stricken rather than not. That's how it always went when Mr. Piccolo did it. Heck, there was one time where a store owner gave them the keys to his shop. Now how did Mr. Piccolo do this sort of thing again?

That was when something hit him in the back of his head. "Are you listening to me?" he heard Videl yell at him, an angry expression on her face. Whoops, looked like he had zoned out there. Nodding his head uneasily, his hands rubbing the back of his skull to soothe the bump he felt swelling there, Gohan gave her his undivided attention. "Of course you are not listening to me," the princess growled impatiently. "Neither of you two listen to me, even after all the screw ups you have done. I swear, if I had a gold coin for the number of times you have ignored my points, I would be richer than I already am."

"But you're already rich," Gohan pointed out.

"That is why I said 'richer.'"

The clerk snorted again, getting both of their attention. "She's rich? Right and I'm a fairy godmother. If you don't have money, then you're not rich."

"I was not talking to you," Videl glared at the man. "Now be quiet; I am not done telling this idiot here how much of an idiot he is." Crossing her arms over her chest, a glint of light flashed into the man's eyes, catching his attention. Looking closer at the princess's hands, he noticed the yellow strings in her hand reflecting off an unusual amount of light. Could…could it be?

"Say, is that what I think that is?" he asked, clearly ignoring the princess's order as he pointed at the hair in her hands.

Fortunately, Gohan beat Videl to the punch in answering him, since she looked as if she were about to take some of her anger out on him. "What are you talking about?"

Jabbing his finger to Videl's hand again, the man replied "That. Is that some sort of gold or something? Cause it's pretty shiny to be anything else."

Both dark-haired youths blinked in surprise, Videl being the one to raise her fist full of hair up to her face so she could look at the strands better. "This stuff?" she said before something clicked in her mind, causing a predatory look to overcome her features. "Why yes, it is exactly what you think it is. How much of it will cover our expenses?"

The man eyed it for a moment, rubbing his hand on his chin. "I'd say a lot more. After all, it is pretty thin."

"No problem." Turning, Videl looked right at the source of the "gold," causing the subject to stare back with wide eyes. "I need more of the 'gold,' Sharpner."

"Oh hell no!" Sharpner shouted, his hands coming between him and the predatory princess. "You are not pulling out more of my hair! Nuh uh! Not gonna happen!"

"I don't care if I have to shave you bald, I _am_ going to get that hair whether you like it or not!" Videl shouted as she attempted to lunge at the young man; attempted being the key word. Instead, she ran into a small obstacle that came in the form of Gohan, who had stepped in between her and their source of money. Holding her once more, Videl began thrashing around, her hands clawing at air as she tried to get around him.

"Oh my, did I come at a wrong time?" a kind voice said, startling everyone in the room. "I'll just come back later."

Looking to the newcomer, testosterone levels skyrocketed as three jaws dropped to the floor and one twisted into part of a disgusted expression. A blue-haired woman stood at the door wearing practically nothing, in Videl's opinion, and probably the perfect outfit that all women should wear in the opinion of two others. There was a third one, but that was more of something embarrassing and not important at the moment.

The first thing they all took notice was the endless-seeming length of the woman's legs. Besides the garter around her thigh, nothing covered them and they were glorious. The only thing that came close to covering them was the short leather shorts she wore and high boots, which is to say not at all. "Please come in!" the store clerk exclaimed, magically appearing next to her as he grabbed her hand and brought it up to his lips. "In this store, we serve our customers until they can barely move."

Of course, the clerk now got a nice view of her cleavage that her leather bodice did nothing to hide. That was probably because it was about the same size as her shorts and was divided right down the middle, strings being only thing keeping the bodice closed. A low cut and hem that floated about her waist made sure it covered pretty much nothing. That left her stomach completely exposed.

A picture of divinity if the men ever saw one.

Of course, Videl was the only one who seemed to have a problem with it. How could someone step out of their house in such an outfit? Did she have no decency at all? Heck, that orange hair tie in her hair was bigger than anything she had on!

"Well, if it isn't any trouble," the woman said shyly, the store clerk now leading her to the counter.

"It's no trouble at all," the clerk said as he smiled at her. "What can I do to you…I mean, _for_ you?"

"Hey! We were here first!" Videl shouted, appearing at the counter with her eyes blazing with anger.

The clerk sighed irritably. "You still need to get me my money. Until you have it, I won't serve you," he said, looking at Videl directly. Then turning to look at the woman his face melted into one of pleasure. "Now then, miss, pardon the interruption. What is it I can do?"

The woman blinked naively before she said "But they were here first. It is the proper thing to allow them to go first, isn't it?"

The clerk reluctantly nodded his head. "I suppose…"

The woman than turned to Videl, who was looking at her suspiciously. "I'm sorry for the trouble. I can wait my turn." Pausing for a moment, she then ventured "Umm, I hope you don't mind me asking this, but do you not have any money? I think the clerk said you owed him some?"

Videl didn't let her look disappear. "Yes, you're...I mean, you _are _correct." Jerking her hand up and extending her thumb to point behind her, she added "That moron there lost everything we had."

"Oh my! That's terrible!" the woman exclaimed, genuine concern pouring from her. "Well, as chance would have it, I found some money earlier today that I wouldn't mind sharing. Would that be alright with you?"

"That's more than alright!" Sharpner exclaimed, suddenly right next to the woman. "We are fully in your debt for this." Pulling out a seductive look that looked more like something from a horror show, he continued "Would our angel please grace us with her name? So that we can know each other better?"

The woman nodded her head, oblivious to his look. "Indeed you may. My name is Launch. What is yours and your friends'?"

"I am known throughout the land as the one and only, the great Sharpner!" the blond proclaimed proudly. An elbow jabbed into his back a moment later, causing him to wince as he looked behind him. "And this is Videl," he added lamely. A second, even harder jab hit him then. "And the other guy is Sidekick."

Launch looked at the two dark-haired youth and smiled at them, bowing her head slightly. "It is a pleasure to meet you both, Ms. Videl and Sidekick."

"Yeah, yeah, nice to meet you too," Videl said, oblivious to Gohan's fallen face as she did so. Was everyone going to start calling him Sidekick now? Turning her attention to the store clerk, she said "Now that we have the money, it is time we get out stuff."

As the four gave their lists of provisions and supplies, the clerk mournfully leaving the customers to search out what they requested, the four soon fell into another conversation. "If I may, could you tell me how you lost your money?" Launch asked.

"It was stolen," Sharpner immediately answered. "I was coming to town to get the stuff we needed and I got jumped. There must've been ten or twenty of them. I did my best to fight them off, but a couple of the cowards pulled out swords. I knew that if I kept fighting them, they would turn on my friends here and kill them, so I surrendered. They then beat me up and took every coin I had."

A simultaneous snort came from Gohan and Videl. "You were tied to a tree and crying like a baby," Videl retorted. "Gohan had to rock you to sleep to get you to calm down."

"That's not true! It didn't happen that way at all, I swear!"

"But you said a woman robbed you, not an entire gang," Gohan replied.

"Oh my!" Launch interrupted. "So your name isn't Sidekick?"

Trails of tears began running down Gohan's cheeks. Would that name never cease? "No, my name's Gohan," he said mournfully.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Gohan!" Launch chirped happily.

"Quit paying attention to the sidekick!" Sharpner interrupted heatily, drawing all of the attention where it should have been. "As I was saying, we were robbed just now and—"

"Oh my!" Launch interrupted again. "You poor things. Have you thought about trying to capture the robber?"

The three looked at Launch, the same thought running through each of their heads. Why hadn't they thought of that? There would have been some head slapping, but Sharpner decided that he needed to declare how brilliant the blue-haired woman was. "That's brilliant! Would you help us poor souls? We can use all the help we can get!"

"You can say that again" Videl muttered.

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><p>Gohan and Videl were standing in the middle of a clearing, clearly uncomfortable though for very different reasons. For one, both were dressed in clothes best suited for people of the upper-class. For Gohan, he found them very stiff and restricting since he usually wore more loose-fitting clothes. Videl didn't seem to mind them at all, though she was wearing more jewelry, such as a silver necklace and rings. Her tiara was still on her head, but it most definitely helped make them what they wanted to appear to be.<p>

Bait.

To be more precise, each was suppose to look as people who rolled around in wealth. Such finery was something Gohan wasn't used to, thus he found his role to be very uncomfortable. Videl didn't find the dressing up as worrisome as Gohan though; her main problem was the fact that they were supposed to be a couple. This meant that she had to get closer to the lad more than she ever wanted to be and she voiced her displeasure at the idea—loudly. Obviously she had not won that battle as she stood with the dark-haired boy, their arms entwined as gentlemen and ladies were suppose to do—that part she seemed to not mind oddly enough—her face scowled at the fact that she was damn-near pressed up against the young man. That and Gohan just couldn't seem to stop fidgeting in his finery. That was becoming annoying as the princess' face indicated. On top of that, Gohan was also sweating due to nerves, which unfortunately caused him to release an awful amount of B.O. So between pretending to be his…wife, and smelling what was most likely not leaving her nostrils for the next few days, Videl was on the edge of beating someone brainless.

And speaking of Sharpner.

About the only thing to go the princess' way was that she wasn't being partnered with Sharpner—another complaint she had voiced earlier. Currently, he was hiding in some nearby bushes, watching the two with Launch. After they had joined forces, the four had come up with a plan to draw out the evil robber that had stolen their money. With two of them posing as rich people, the other two would wait in secret, ready to pounce on the robber once they made their appearance. And just so no one could miss them, a light from somewhere above them was shinning on the two dark-haired youths. It practically screamed sit-up, or, in some circles, jackpot.

All of this had been made possible by the ever oblivious Launch. She never seemed to notice what sort of effect she had on the opposite sex, so when she asked the store clerk for rich clothes and finery he had, he eagerly supplied them free-of-charge. It was suspected that he wanted a different form of payment, which was later confirmed when he began sputtering and, soon after, crying when Launch left the store.

It was night by now and there had been no sign of the robber. It was starting to annoy the more impatient of the four. One of those impatient people was Sharpner, who had long given up trying to seduce Launch in their bushes. The woman just wouldn't take a hint! Or a flat out offer! He could try again later, but he had hoped the whole trap would've been used by now. Growling for what felt the hundredth time, the blond said "Where in the world is this lady? She should've been here by now."

"Do you think she'll come?" Launch asked from somewhere behind him. "It is getting really late. Perhaps she already went to bed."

Sharpner shook his head. "Not this one. I'm positive she's out here somewhere."

"Do you remember what she was wearing? That might help us recognize her."

The blond blinked. Why hadn't he thought of that? It was brilliant! Okay, what had that robber been wearing? Frowning, Sharpner couldn't remember what she had worn. He thought it was something revealing since he had noticed a lot of skin. But other than that his mind was blank. "Damn it, I can't remember," he muttered.

"That's too bad," Launch replied. A few moments later, she suddenly exclaimed—in a low tone naturally—"I know! I have this excellent cure for memory loss. I'll be right back." Without even waiting for him to reply, the blue-haired woman left the bush, disappearing into the undergrowth. Sharpner wasn't sure where she was going, but he was positive she would find her way back. After all, he was a chick magnet.

Focusing on Gohan and Videl again, he then muttered "Alright you little thief, show yourself already."

Some rustling occurred behind him several moments later, alerting him to Launch's return. "That was quick," he said as he turned his head to look at her. Instead of seeing the blue-haired woman's kind face and gentle eyes, he came face first was a smirking face and ruthless eyes. A face and eyes he clearly recognized but couldn't cry out in fear as a hand clamped down onto his mouth.

"Yous called?" her accented voice asked, causing Sharpner's pupils to shrink into the whites of his eyes.

Someone…help…

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><p>To I'm a person: If you turn it to a side, you can definitely see bonding going on lol<p>

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	19. Who Wanted a Romp in the Mud

I've got something special in this chapter for y'all readers. My fellow writer and fanartist Ms. Videl Son helped write this chapter, writing an entire scene too. I made a few adjustments here and there to it, but for the most part, I've left it as is. I'm sure y'all will be able to tell which part it is.

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><p>Videl wanted to be anywhere but where she was, which happened to be standing next to a guy she rather dump in a ditch somewhere and forget about him. It was getting late, the sun was just about to set, which caused a stray sunbeam to try and blind her, and the guy she was with was smelling something awful; it was just a powder keg of everything that could go wrong with this plan of their's.<p>

Oh, and she was getting a cramp in her leg.

But she had to admit he was a better alternative to the blond, though that wasn't saying much. Huffing, she looked at Gohan, who hadn't relaxed at all since they had been standing there, ripe for the robbing. Yeah, she didn't like the guy much, but really, did he have to be so uncomfortable around her? Or was it the clothes? Well whichever, she was done looking like an idiot with her…ugh, "_husband._" It was time that they did something else now that the plan had failed miserably. "Which bush is that friend of yours hiding in?" she demanded. "We are not getting anything done just standing here."

Gohan jumped at her declaration, but for once he seemed to be a bit more relaxed, comfortable even. "I think he's in that one over there," he answered, pointing at the bush he meant. Both of them moving awkwardly to the bush—after all, their legs were cramped from standing in one spot—they eventually reached it and rattled on the leaves to indicate they were done with waiting.

The next thing they knew, the beaten and tied up form of Sharpner fell out of the bush, surprising both of them. He seemed to be unconscious, but knowing the blond, he wouldn't be for long. "What the heck happened here?" Videl exclaimed, which was all the blond needed to wake up.

Immediately, Sharpner's eyes flew open, his body struggling against his bindings as he made muffled sounds. It was at that point the dark-haired couple realized that the young man was also gagged. Funny how they missed that. It was Gohan that moved first, removing the gag from Sharpner's mouth as he began untying him.

It was at that moment that Videl wished Gohan hadn't done the gag first; it left her having to actually hear the blond's voice now. "It was horrible! Horrible I say! That crazy chick attacked me! Again!" Sharpner cried out.

"And how was she able to do that?" Videl asked, a skeptical tone in her voice. "You were on the lookout for her, right? You could not have let her sneak up behind you and beat you up again, right?" Upon seeing his ashamed look, Videl shook her head in disproval. "That is it, you are the bait next time. I refused to be standing like a fool any longer."

Unfortunately, Gohan was the one to express something other than contempt. "Where's Launch?"

Videl's eyes widened a bit. Looking around, she couldn't see hide nor hair of the blue-haired woman. It was a bit concerning that she hadn't noticed the other woman's presence. As the men proved, she wasn't that hard to spot.

That was when Sharpner reentered the conversation. "She went back to town to get…something, I forget what. It was after she left that the robber jumped me. Then did horrible…HORRIBLE things to me!"

Videl snatched the gag off the ground, right where Gohan had dropped it, and stuffed it back into Sharpner's mouth. "Shut it moron, your annoying voice makes it too hard to think."

Somehow, Gohan seemed oblivious to the two's bickering. Either that or he was just ignoring them, something that Videl envied at the moment. "It's strange though. Shouldn't Launch be back by now? I wonder if something happened to her."

Videl snorted. "Are you more worried about her well-being or if you will get to see her nearly nude figure?"

Gohan blinked his eyes as he looked towards her. "I just hope she's alright," he said tentatively, not quite sure what answer would cause the least damage. "Is there something else I should be worried about?"

Videl wasn't quite sure how to take that answer. After all, men were pig-headed and easily distracted by shiny objects—or in his case a semi-nude object. Either he was trying to mess with her by acting innocent or he really was being honest. So in order to make sure she saved face on either option, she just huffed and turned her back to the young man.

As it turned out, it was fortunate that she did so. Almost immediately she caught sight of a piece of paper lying on the ground, one that she was pretty sure wasn't there when they first came out here. Admittedly, she hadn't been paying much attention to the scenery, but she was pretty sure the place had been trash-free. Kneeling down, she snatched up the paper and looked it over. "What's that you found there?" she heard Gohan ask a moment later.

"I'm not sure," Videl replied, standing back up and handing the paper to him. When he looked at it, he recognized it immediately.

"It's a flyer to some tavern in town: the _Drink It or Lose It_ Tavern." Scratching his head, Gohan then suggested "Maybe our robber went there? I don't remember seeing this earlier."

Aha! So she was right about that thing being dropped recently! Videl did so enjoy being right. "Then let us go there. It should not be too hard to find this place."

"Mmmprh mmmgrrph mmpghh," Sharpner agreed from his spot on the ground.

Looking at the ground reluctantly, Videl then said to Gohan "Do we really have to take him along?"

* * *

><p>As Videl had predicted, the tavern hadn't been too hard to find. There was a decent sized crowd standing in front of it, well, to be more precise around the entrance. Everyone seemed to be avoiding a rather muddy looking piece of ground that was positioned right in front of the door. This caused them to spill out into the street, amusing themselves with their inane conversations. Some were even next to a fence, a large mud-hole filled with lounging pigs in it. Most of the crowd consisted of men who looked like they'd been living life hard. By hard, that meant scars, crooked noses, and less than ideal hygiene. There were a few women that fit that description as well and were in the midst of obtaining the men's company for the night. That was something Videl looked positively disgusted by, but then it was only natural since she had lived in a castle all of her life and never really experienced the life on the road. That and upper-class people just flat out didn't like the things poorer people did.<p>

So in the interest of making sure Videl wasn't offended anymore than she already was, Gohan led the way into the tavern, gently pushing people aside to make way for the princess. He may not have learned many manners from Mr. Piccolo, but even he knew to offer polite gestures to ladies. It didn't seem Sharpner learned manners either since he seemed to prefer using Videl as a human-shield to make his way through the crowd. So perhaps Gohan should've said he was making away for the princess _and_ Sharpner.

Once they entered the tavern, they found themselves in a room composed mostly of wood. Wooden floors, walls, bar, chairs, tables; you name it, it was wood. Not the best crafted wood, but it did its job somewhat adequately. There were some knives sticking out of the walls at various places, mostly because someone(s) got too drunk and began throwing them carelessly. There were lanterns hanging from the walls too, providing most of the light with the slight help of candles on random tables. All of the tables were filled with men either drinking, laughing, playing cards, or some version of all of the above. There was a much larger crowd over by the bar that let out a very raucous outburst of laughter.

"Alright Sharpner, where is she?" Videl shouted over the noise.

The blond squinted his eyes for some unknown reason as he looked about the place. "I don't really see her anywhere," he said eventually.

"How about you try opening your eyes? That _might_ help," Videl retorted sarcastically.

Amazingly enough, Sharpner's eyes widened, exclaiming "Hey, you're right! I can see much better this way!"

Gohan and Videl sweatdropped at that, along with the people around them that just happened to be listening in. Yeah, it seemed that blond head of the young man was just as empty as they thought. Nothing could change that opinion, even as his eyes fell upon the very person they were searching for. "There! That's her! She's the one that robbed me!"

Quickly turning their heads, the dark-haired youths and the eavesdroppers looked at the large crowd at the bar. Only this time they saw an attractive blonde woman amongst the men there, an arrogant look on her face as she said something to cause another burst of raucous laughter. She didn't seem to be shy either as a man moved to her side and whisper something in her ear. What ever was whispered led to the woman punching the man's lights out, his unconscious body crashing to the floor a moment later.

With the man out of their line of sight, Gohan couldn't help but notice her leather ensemble, particularly how it didn't really cover much of her, especially her legs and midriff. For some reason, the young man felt as if he had seen that outfit before, but couldn't really put a finger as to why. Videl didn't seem to care a wit though as she began marching up to the bar, a scowl on her face that told anyone in her way would get pulverized. That caused many people to part in front of her, giving her an open path to the blonde robber. Quickly, Gohan went after her, though he had a bit more trouble doing that as the people that parted for Videl weren't as courteous to him.

The blonde woman saw the princess approaching her just before she arrived. "Well this is a new one," she commented loudly. "What's a purdy thing like yous doin' in a dump like this?"

Videl stood before the robber, her eyes narrowed into a glare. "You stole money from me. I want it back right now, or I promise to give you a world of pain."

The men around the two women ooohed at this, gathering around them to see how this confrontation would play out. Unfortunately, that provided another obstacle for Gohan, and now Sharpner, as they tried to get to the princess. This just couldn't end well.

"Is that right?" the woman said, turning her body to face the princess more, giving her an once-over. "And what is a little girlie gonna do, huh? Yous gonna kick my shin and run? Ha!" Watching the rage flooding the princess' face, her smirk widened with glee. "Alright then, I accept. Yous could be more fun than these chumps." Standing up, she began walking away, though she quickly realized she wasn't being followed. Turning her head to look back, she then said, "C'mon girlie, if yous want to fight, then follow me. We're takin' this outside."

Not even waiting for a reply, the woman made her way outside the tavern, Videl following her with a scowl on her face. It took a moment for the men to figure out what was going on, but when it dawned on them a catfight was imminent, a large rush occurred as they stampeded after the women, Gohan and Sharpner getting caught in the middle of it. A sense of excitement bubbled amongst them as they found the two ladies standing in the middle of the street, staring each other down. Videl was facing towards the tavern as the blonde looked towards the pigpen behind the princess. As the crowd began gathering around the two, Gohan and Sharpner somehow finding their way to the front, they all began to hear words that were being spoken between the two.

"Last chance ta run on home, girlie," the blonde woman taunted, a smirk prominent on her face.

"I am not afraid of you," Videl shot back. "Your words make me wonder whether you are the one that is afraid."

"Me afraid of yous? Ha! I'ze be more afraid of a midget than yous!"

Videl closed the distance between the two, to the point their chests were almost touching. "I may be short, but I rather be short than dress as a woman of low self-esteem. You are practically naked in your choice of wardrobe."

The woman's eyes narrowed. "I'ze watch yous tongue, ya little hussy."

* * *

><p>That had had been the wrong thing to say to Videl. No one ever, <em>EVER<em> called her a hussy. "You bitch," Videl accused, the word hissing through her teeth like a curse. Before she could even conjure up the conscious will to do-so, she felt her palm strike the woman across her sneering face. The resulting SMACK echoed against the buildings, reverberating again and again through her bones. Gohan, Sharpener and the surrounding townsfolk looked on in startled awe.

The blonde herself stood perfectly still for a moment, head locked into the position Videl had forced it into, her wide eyes staring blankly into the distance. When she finally turned—slowly, ever-so-slowly—to face the daring adversary before her, she said, "And here I'ze was goin' ta let yous live."

Videl only had time to throw her hands up in defense of her eyes before the woman came hurtling at her with a rage-filled frenzy. The momentum of the blonde's spring sent both women hurtling backwards into—and through—the fence of the nearby paddock. The aged wood put up almost no resistance to the added weight of the fighting females and splintered apart, allowing their descent to continue in its inevitable route toward the ground. When they finally landed, Videl heard a sickening squelch and felt thick, warm mud against her back. In the background, pigs could be heard squealing in terror as they fled the scene.

Without pausing to be disgusted, Videl regained the upper hand. While the blonde woman's fingers were still clawing for her eyes, the mud-soaked princess parted her knees and allowed the blonde's body to descend between them. Once Videl had her exactly in position, she clamped down hard and used all of her lower body strength to flip her opponent off of her. The blonde landed about a foot away but slid almost to the other side of the paddock, leaving a sweeping trail in her wake.

"V-Videl!" she heard Gohan call from somewhere behind her. A few hurried footsteps later and he sounded much closer. "Are you alright?"

Ignoring him, Videl got to her feet, stumbling a little in her now mud-caked skirt, and pointed an accusatory finger at her opponent. She turned it over, smirking, and beckoned her adversary to try again.

The blonde woman, smiling in kind, acquiesced very willingly. After lunging onto her feet once more, the blonde made a running start and tackled Videl, this time with her arms around the princess' waist. Videl was ready for the attack and had braced herself for impact; by the time the woman had reached her, she'd had her arms opened wide in welcome.

The two women grappled like this for almost a full minute before one of them lost their footing and fell, squealing like a pig into the mud. The blonde woman had fallen face-first into the pit of muck and, as she was coughing the disgusting sludge out of her throat, Videl pounced. Positioning herself on Launch's back, Videl grabbed a fistful of the blonde's matted hair and pulled hard. The woman's neck whipped back and the two wrestlers stared each other hard in the eyes for a few seconds before Videl pushed the blonde's sneering face back into the mud.

It was soon Videl's turn to be on the receiving end of punishment. Drawing up strength from only Kami knows where, the blonde woman pushed herself up off the ground, Videl still clinging to her back by her knees, and spat the foul-smelling sludge out of her mouth. With her opponent perched so perfectly on her back, the woman flung the princess back into the mud with one hard shake of her hips.

Videl hit the mud in a particularly wet corner and dirty water splashed up and over the onlookers. A pack of them stopped cheering for a minute to express disgust, but the rest only hallooed louder as Videl regained her bearings. Several of them were shouting at her to stay down, but the vast majority were too busy cheering her on or taking bets on the outcome to care about her health and welfare. Sharpner seemed to be leading the second pack, waving around fistfuls of cash and yelling to the crowd about odds. She'd have to remember to punch him later.

Videl, more weakened this time, climbed back into a standing position with the help of the paddock fence. She turned to face her opponent and found her similarly balanced against a wooden post, retching and panting in turns. After only a couple of seconds of reprieve, however, both ladies silently agreed that break time was over.

Both took a running start and met in the middle, fists outstretched for use. The woman's attack missed by mere millimeters, wet muck spraying into Videl's eyes as it passed, but the princess' was lucky enough to hit. With one sharp jab to the chin, the blonde went down for the last time.

Videl only stood over the unconscious body of her adversary for a few moments before crumpling to her knees, panting. She'd won.

"Videl!" Gohan was suddenly right in her ear and she flinched at the high-pitched terror in his voice.

As her eardrums throbbed in pain, Videl inclined her face toward her traveling companion and frowned. "You don't have to shout," she complained, too tired to worry about her speech as she rubbed her sore ears. "I'm right here."

As Gohan dropped down to his knees in the swampy sludge, he blushed and apologized, "Sorry...Let me help you up."

"I've got it," Videl replied stubbornly, trying and immediately failing to get to her feet. She managed to get half of the way up before teetering and falling over backwards. Luckily for her—though she'd never admit that—Gohan was there to catch her before she fell back into the pit.

"I've got you," he said softly, pulling one of her arms across his shoulders. She could feel Gohan's hand cupping gently at her hip, but didn't feel like making a big deal out of it for the moment; she'd let him have this one. He had to stoop down to accommodate her comfortably, but they managed well enough to venture out of the paddock and back into the main street.

"Hey, hey, Videl!" an aggravatingly familiar voice shouted, full of chipper glee. Moments later Sharpner came jogging up beside them with fists and pockets full of cash. "Look how much we made! We could make a fortune off of this kind of thing! Say, would you be willing to stick around another couple of days? One of the farmers says he's got a daughter that could take you in a fight. It'd be an easy win, of course, but we could make some good mon—"

As Sharpener hit the dusty street, the crowd behind them cheered with delight. Videl, feeling too tired to be proud, placed herself back in Gohan's protective hold and proceeded to hobble down the street with him. As they walked, she said, "Let's go to an inn. I need a bath..."

Before they got too far though, the crowd began cheering against, causing the dark-haired duo to look back. The blonde woman was struggling back to her feet and she didn't look the least bit happy. "Where yous goin' huh? We ain't over yet!"

Immediately, Videl suppressed the fatigue she felt and moved out of Gohan's grasp, taking a few wobbly steps back to the mud pit. "Not done yet, huh? Fine then, this time I'll make sure you you'll stay down, you little thief."

Almost immediately, the blonde woman's posture changed. Instead of crouched and aggressive, she stood straight up and seemed frail. Her blonde hair that wasn't covered in mud instantly changed into blue. "Oh my! What's going on?" she exclaimed in a soft voice, looking around at the crowd around them.

Videl blinked her eyes at the muddied form of Launch, not quite sure what was going on. "But…how…" she sputtered.

Behind Videl, Gohan had a similar look of bewilderment. Their robber the entire time had been Launch? Kind, innocent Launch that had vowed to help them get their money back and even bought them supplies? Well, with their own money apparently.

"L-Launch?" Videl inquired carefully, earning the blue-haired woman's full attention. "Is that…you?"

"Why, yes it is Videl. Why are we standing in the mud? And why is your pretty dress torn up? It was so pretty."

"But…I…wait, what in the world is going on!" the princess finally exclaimed, getting her mind back in order. "I was busy beating up our robber! And then you just suddenly appeared in her place!"

Launch soaked in that knowledge before one of her hands went up to her face, resting against her cheek. "Oh dear, I was afraid of this." Looking distraught, she then said "I believe I owe you three an apology. It seems my other half stole your money."

A silence passed over the crowd. Gohan, and Videl just stared at the apologetic Launch, neither of them letting a single thought cross their minds. Eventually, the rest of the crowd started to become antsy, looking to each other as they tried to figure out what was going on. Finally, one of them spoke out "So are you two going to finish wrestling or what?"

* * *

><p>A few broken corpses later and the four interesting characters found themselves in a jailhouse. Launch was on one side of the jail cell bars, sitting in an uncomfortable wooden chair and looking remorseful. The other three were on the other side of the bars, looking at her with different looks; one with pity, one with dispassion, and the other a mixture of lust and conflict. It wasn't too hard to figure out which person held which expression.<p>

"I suppose I should start from the beginning," Launch began, looking at the three. "I have a curse upon me, one that makes me change personalities. I wasn't always this way though."

"Of course," Videl said, nodding her head. "So why would someone put a curse on you? I mean, you do not seem like the type to have someone hold a grudge against you." Then muttering to herself "Unless you consider your clothes."

"Well, I wasn't always kind. Originally, I was the blonde version of me. I would steal and kill people without worry. I remember it was really fun back then. But then about five years ago I made the mistake of robbing this old woman. She was dress in this heavy robe thing and had a pointy hat. I don't remember what I took but she got angry with me."

"So this woman was a witch?" Sharpner guessed.

"Yes, she was. She started yelling at me, but I don't remember what it was she said. After that, she pulled out this really big book. I remember it because it had the words 'Witch Spells for Dummies' on it."

Gohan and Sharpner froze upon hearing this, which caused Videl to look at them curiously. Launch seemed oblivious as she kept telling her tale, not that they heard a word she said. It couldn't be. There was no way! Politely coughing to stop the blue-haired woman's story, Gohan said "Would that witch happen to be called Baba?"

Launch lit up with a smile. "Yes! That was her name! She kept going on and on about how great of a witch she was, but I always found it odd she had to keep looking into that book of hers for spells."

Yes, it was as they feared. Why did that old woman have to pop up again?

Narrowing her eyes at the two, Videl decided she would ask them why the two of them were acting strange…er than they usually were. So she interrupted Launch once more to ask "So what was the curse she put on you?"

"Well, she said she gave me a conscience. It was so I could feel guilty about everything I had done, but I think she messed up the spell. Instead of me feeling guilty, she made an entirely different me that comes out every so often. Or maybe that's what she wanted, I don't know."

"So when is it you come out? Does it have something to do with the moon or something?" Videl asked.

"Oh nothing of that sort. I just change between the me's every time I hear a certain word. I don't really know what the word is, but I suppose you would know since you used it."

The three looked stupefied by that statement. How the heck were they suppose to know what word caused her to change? Gohan hadn't really been keeping track of the conversation as of late, Sharpner had been distracted by an impromptu mud wrestling match, and Videl had been way too angry to pay attention to what she may have said during the fight. Let's see, she did remember getting ready to fight Launch again right before she changed. Said something like a vow...maybe. Oh! And a name! She definitely called her a name! But what could it be? An assortment of different names she had for the Blonde Launch went through her head, usually very colorful ones that people of her status never uttered, so it was definitely not one of them. She had called her a robber many times, but that never caused a change. Wait, could it be…

"Was it 'thief'?" Videl ventured. Instantly, the mile-mannered Launch was no longer in the cell, replaced by a bewildered blonde. First the woman looked about the room and soon realized exactly where she was. Next she then focused her sights right on the three, her rage showing on her face soon after. "Why yous dirty, little—!"

"Thief," Videl repeated, the blonde becoming her counterpart once more. "I think we know what word is used," she then said dryly.

"That's wonderful!" Launch exclaimed, clapping her hands. "Would you be so kind as to tell the jailors? I wouldn't want them to be massacred if I changed again."

"Yeah…sure," Videl replied before turning to leave, grabbing the still conflicted Sharpner by his hair and tugging him after her. "It is time to leave Gohan," she said. However, the young man didn't move from his spot, a confused look on his face.

After a moment, he finally asked, "If you were the robber from the very beginning, why did you want to help us out? It doesn't really make much sense to me." Upon hearing this, Videl stopped in her tracks, turning her head to look at Launch, curious about the answer. Sharpner…well, he was still trying to figure out whether he could get away with prison sex or if he should just walk away. It was one thing to bone a woman with problems, but it was another to know she had problems before boning her.

"Well, I didn't know I was the one who did it," Launch answered. "I thought it was someone else until I was in the mud. It sort of hit me then."

Gohan nodded and gave her a small smile. "Thank you Launch. I wish we met in different circumstances, but it was nice meeting you. I hope you'll take care—"

"And that's enough out of you," Videl interrupted, sounding slightly irritated as she grabbed onto Gohan's hair and began pulling him behind her. A startled yelp came from the young man as he tried to keep the pain in his scalp to a minimum. Oddly enough, Sharpner didn't seem bothered at all by the treatment they were getting. Then again, perhaps blond hair had some sort of resistance to pain by hair pulling. Regardless, Videl didn't let go of either of them until they had left the jail.

* * *

><p>To I'm a person: Thanks! I think this one was good too, mostly for the mud wrestling lol<p>

To Supergirl 111: In the sense that he's a powerful Saiyan Warrior, no he's not. He hasn't been trained in the martial arts as we know it and most of his training has been in an area he has no aptitude with. And while I understand Videl's personality being bothersome, she is an aristocrat and aristocrats tend to look down on people less fortunate than they are. Not to mention she and Gohan really got off on the wrong foot to begin with. But it is planned for her to become humbler. I hope that makes sense.

To everyone else, in case you couldn't figure it out, though I find that doubtful, MVS wrote the mudwrestling scene. She did a pretty good job with it too, don't you agree? After all, mud wrestling is such a great sport.

And to get a better idea of Launch's outfit, got to either my DQZ favorites folder or megaminoeien's DQZ art gallery and look for the fanart _DQZ Bandit - Sketch_. I must agree with the fellows in this story: why don't more women dress like that? It would be soooo awwwwwesome.

Fun Fact: I was writing many of the Launch scenes (the mud wrestling one excluded) right around the time I was doing the same for Launch's apperance in _A Feeble Trip to Insanity_. As you can see, I have a lot of practices with her grammar lol. Funny how life works, ney?

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	20. This Led to a Stop at a Bathhouse

_Year 666_

_Launch looked at the hunched form of her newest victim unimpressed and wondering if she would be worth her while. Little old ladies weren't exactly the best people to rob, but she was in a bit of a bind. She had gambled all of her money and then some away the night before _to these seedy-looking guys _and needed some quick cash fast. These weren't the sort of people you wanted to be indebted to and she _really_ didn't want to find out how they would want her to repay them. So at this point, anyone was going to have their turn at her robbing them, even this slowly approaching, ancient woman._

_Pulling out her favorite knife, she moved out from her place behind a tree and stood in front of the woman, brandishing her weapon in front of her. "Alright Granny, I'ze only gonna say this once, so listen up. Give me all yous money and jewels and give 'em fast. The soona yous do, the soona yous can leave, capiche?"_

_The old woman seemed taken back. "Are…are you robbing me?" she practically demanded, a more forceful tone than Launch thought she would have possessed. That thought was quickly swept away as she next thought that the woman must be an idiot not to realize that fact a moment earlier. After all, how many people point something sharp at you for something other than robbery?_

_"No, I'ze askin' for a donation for my wallet. Of course I'ze robbin' ya!" she yelled at the old crone. "Now make with the goods or yous won't like what I do ta yous."_

_The old woman sputtered at this for a few seconds before screaming "Who do you think you are? Some simpleton who cannot even pronounce their words right has no right to rob me, the Holy Witch Baba! Why I should teach you some manners on how to treat the elderly!"_

_"Yeah, yeah, what ever yous say. Now do yous want my little ol' knife stickin' out of ya ribs, or are yous gonna make with the gold? I ain't got all day."_

_This only caused the woman to grow even angrier. "Just you wait! I will personally show you what a witch can do!" she declared as she reached into her robe and pulled out a book. A book with some weird words on them, but Launch got the feeling they were poking fun at the old crone. She wouldn't know though, she couldn't read. "Where is it, where is it?" the woman muttered as she flipped page after page for something only she knew was in there. Something that Launch didn't really care about and was running out of patience for._

_"Alright Granny, I'ze was tryin' to go easy on yas, but yous really startin' ta tick me off. Now—"_

_"Here it is!" the woman cried out, interrupting Launch. "Now hold still, this will only take a second." Raising one of her hands, the old woman began waving it around, reading from her book out loud. "I curse thee woman of mortal sin, one who lacks deep within."_

_Immediately, Launch felt herself freeze up, the only thing active about her was her mind running frantically in thought. What the hell was going on? Why couldn't she move? And why did the air around her seem to start sparkling blue? Seriously, what the hell!_

_That was when she began feeling something growing in her head. Seriously, there was something there that wasn't there before and it was getting bigger and bigger. It was starting to scare her. Her! A person that hadn't been afraid since she could crawl and learned to steal a moment after she figured out how to do that. Even her daddy couldn't make her afraid and he frightened everyone within a mile radius of him!_

_"I curse thee woman, now feel my pain. Be very careful of the weight you gain!" the witch continued, though Launch had to admit, she had lost track of where in the spell the woman was at. What gaining weight had to do with pain and cursing, she had no idea, but she had a feeling she wouldn't like what ever it was_, especially if she put on a few pounds. She had worked for this body of hers and she planned to keep it the way it was, thank you very much._ But that became the least of her problems as the blue sparkly crap floating about her became brighter and brighter until she couldn't see anything anymore._

_When the light died down, she saw an old lady smirking at her. This confused her as she had no recollection as to why this woman would be looking at her like that. It was very discomforting. "Umm…excuse me ma'am, but can I help you with something?"_

_"It worked!" the woman exclaimed, nearly leaping for joy. Instead she just threw her arms up into the air and laughed heartily. "It worked, it worked!" she then sang out loud, though her singing voice wasn't very good; she didn't say anything about it though as it would be very rude to tell her that. However, she seemed to realize her behavior and calmed down, coughing as she composed herself. "Of course it worked," she said to herself. "The magic of the Great Baba has never failed me, though my idiot brother seems immune to it for some reason…"_

_"Umm, excuse me," Launch said, getting the woman's attention. "I'm sorry if I'm bothering you, but can you tell me what is going on?"_

_"Why of course, my dear," the woman said with a thick, overly sweet tone. "I have just lain a curse upon you."_

_"A curse! But why? That isn't a very nice thing to do!"_

_"…if you would let me continue, you were the one that did wrong to me first, so consider us—"_

_"Didn't you know that two wrong do not make a right?"_

_"Hey! I'm the victim here, not you!" the witch bellowed, silencing the other woman. "Now, I have cursed you for being very rude, trying to rob me, and treating the elderly with disrespect. Now you will live your days as a guilty conscience, one that you previously lacked. Now go away you little thief—"_

_The world blinked for a moment. When the moment ended, Launch's eyes narrowed as she focused her on the witch, who looked like she were about to soil her robe. "Well, well, well, if it ain't the old windbag that was doin' freaky crap ta me," she said, her free arms moving as she began cracking her knuckles._

_"Th-that wasn't supposed to happen!" the witch cried out as she began digging into her book once more. "Umm…uhh…" Finding her page again, she immediately read it until she found exactly what she wanted to know. "May cause disorder… spilt…personality…stimuli…" As she read, the pupils of her eyes shrank more and more._

_"I don't know what yous is talkin' about, but what I do know is that yous is about ta see the docta. And this docta says yous is gonna be hurtin' very soon," Launch said as she approached the woman._

_Looking up as she dropped the book to the ground, the witch gulped. "Be gentle."_

* * *

><p>This was the life. Well, not really, but it came <em>very<em> close. Sighing for what felt like the umpteenth time, Gohan leaned further back than he already was, the bubbling warm water flowing all over his towel-clothed body.

It wasn't often Gohan had had the chance to use a bathhouse. As unfortunate as it was, he would usually have to use a brook or stream to bath in while traveling with Mr. Piccolo. For some reason, he had never seen the green man bathe, though he swore that he had to. The man never seemed to smell rank, or at least never as bad as he could. It was a mystery that he never was able to solve, and he had actually tried stalking every move the man made for two months. It had ended with him receiving a very colorful black eye and some even more back-breaking labor that he normally would never have to do. Needless to say, he never followed Mr. Piccolo around after that.

Shortly after the three had left the jail, they had run into an innkeeper who immediately began thanking them until he ran out of breath. Apparently, Launch had been using his inn as a base of operations and had scared the man so bad, he let her stay there for free; this also included using all of the amenities that other guests had to pay for. And as rude and crude as the woman could be, she was starting to scare away customers, which was putting the man into a very bad position. With Launch locked up, he wouldn't have to suffer her any longer. Though he had made a mention to know a very attractive woman who juts happened to wear the same thing as the blonde had worn, which prompted Videl to mutter how an entire village had to be blind not to realize the two being connected.

Once the man had thanked them, he had then offered to put them up for the night, free-of-charge; it was an offer they had promptly accepted. And as fate would have it, the inn also served as the village bathhouse. Finally, some luck was coming their way!

Of course, not everyone was satisfied with the bathing arrangements; namely the baths were separated by gender and a very tall fence made it quite clear that there would be no mingling in the baths. Sharpner had nearly cried in dismay upon this finding.

That had been awhile though. Right now, Sharpner was up against the fence, his back to Gohan and his body hunched over, as if he were trying to look at something. At first, Gohan ignored what the blond was doing, but as time wore on, his curiosity was starting to get the better of him. Sharpner had been in that same spot for quite some time; surely there wasn't anything interesting with the fence to warrant such attention. Getting up from his place in the bath, his made his way to his comrade, the thigh-high water swishing about the hem of his towel as he moved through it. "Uhh, Sharpner? What are you doing?" he asked as he drew near

In response, Sharpner chuckled sinisterly. "Gohan, my boy, we are in luck! Someone managed to put some holes in the fence."

Gohan blinked. "What does that have to do with anything?" Instead of getting a verbal answer this time, Sharpner reached out to a random spot on the fence and grabbed what appeared to be a string hanging from it. Pulling on it, a piece of cork popped out of the wooden fence, leaving a small hole in its place. With his curiosity growing greater and greater, Gohan kneeled in front of the hole and looked through it.

What he saw was the exact same sight of the bath they were in. There wasn't anyone on that side though, which caused the young man to frown. Was this all that Sharpner was looking at? How anti-climatic. "I'm not seeing anything."

"Shhhhhhhhhhhh" Sharpner hissed harshly. "It's about to start."

Gohan's natural response would have been to ask what was going to start, but the sound of a door opening caught his attention. Patiently, he waited for what was suppose to happen, soon seeing the figure of Videl appear, a towel hanging from her crooked arm and a fluffy white robe covering her body. Her skin had a slight red tinge to it, but Gohan assumed that was probably from the scrubbing she had done earlier. She had been covered with dried mud after all, and there was a room where one could clean their body more thoroughly; in fact, it was actually insisted upon that people clean in those rooms instead of the outdoor baths, since the latter was more for relaxing. Videl must've been quite insistent on removing any speck of grim from her body.

Placing her towel next to the pool, the princess stepped into it, her back to the fence and oblivious to her watchers. It was when her arms moved up and her hands began opening her robe that Gohan realize what he and Sharpner were doing. They shouldn't have been doing this, couldn't be doing it, but yet…he couldn't…look…away…

Slowly, almost torturously, the robe was lowered from Videl's body. Thanks to her long hair being tied above her head, nothing obstructed their sight of her back. There was a slight glimpse of her breast if one looked really hard at her side, but neither man took noticed as the robe soon reached a point were it would show something much more viewable.

Unfortunately, that's where their viewing took a wrong turn. As soon as her butt was revealed, it also showed the two something they had not quite expected. A brown leather strap circled her waist—which begged the question how the two of them didn't see this coming—ending with both ends attached to a thin metal ring. There was another strap end attached to the ring as well, making three ends in total, but whereas the horizontal strap encircled Videl's waist, this one went down her backside and disappeared between her legs. Though they couldn't see the front, the strap ended on the other side of the first strap, connecting to it with the help of a padlock.

Gohan had no idea what it was. If he had to call it anything, he would've said it was some bizarre looking undergarment. Fortunately, Sharpner recognized it for what it was and he didn't act too pleased about it. "Damn it all!" he exclaimed, one of his hands hitting the fence in frustration. "A blasted chastity belt! Now how am I suppose to consummate our relationship?"

Due to his bout of anger, Gohan was able to see what the blond failed to notice: Videl's body straightening up, her head jolting upward. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the princess had heard that outburst.

Grumbling to himself, the blond's mind began trying to figure out how he could get around this latest obstacle. This led to him not noticing an absence of the princess in his peeping hole. It wasn't until he heard in a deathly tone the words "What do you think you are doing?" reaching his ears. This brought Sharpner back to reality as he looked up, seeing Videl from the chest up as she looked over the top of the fence. Her robe was back on her body, but one side of it couldn't seem to stay on as one of her shoulders was left uncovered. How she had managed to get on top of the structure was a mystery, but Sharpner was never one to question logic at any time.

"Hey there," he greeted, putting on what he considered a sexy smile. "Care to have some fun on this side, Princess?"

The scowl on Videl's face never shifted as she glared down at the blond. "You were looking at me, weren't you?" she accused.

"Gohan was too!" Sharpner responded indignantly.

"Oh really? So why is it he's on the _other_ side of the bath, hmm? I find it hard to believe he was peeping from there."

It was at that point that Sharpner noticed Gohan's absence at his side. Looking there first, he then turned his head to look across the bath, finding the dark-haired youth right where Videl said he would be, his face burning red as he seemed to be trying to submerge himself completely underwater. Unlike the blond, Gohan knew when it was a good time to retreat.

And because of that knowledge, Gohan was the only one that would be a witness as Videl descended from the fence and attempted to beat and drown Sharpner to death. He didn't say a word as he heard the young man's strangled screams fill the air, nor did he consciously take a sharp breath of air as he saw a body floating on the surface of the pool. It wasn't until two legs slightly covered by the bottom of a robe appeared in his line of sight, followed by a hand moving towards him. A finger extended and pressed up against his chin, forcing his head up and his eyes to look right into the piercing blue ones of the princess.

"Now Gohan, I am only going to ask you this once. I will not be mad how you answer it, but I do want the truth," Videl said in a very calm, very reassuring tone. "Were you peeping at me?"

Mr. Piccolo had always stressed to Gohan about telling the truth. Honesty was a man's word and bond, and if he squandered that he wouldn't be worth the spit from a man's mouth. Yet despite this upbringing, voices in Gohan's head were screaming at him to lie. Lie his ass off until his tongue fell out his mouth and shriveled into a husk of…what ever a tongue was made of. Even as the princess's almost comforting voice hinted that everything would be alright as long as he told the truth it tore the young man apart between his nature and instinct.

"No, I did not peep," he said. Well, looked like instinct won again.

Videl stared into his eyes, seeking the truth in that statement. Eventually, she said "Are you sure?"

"Yep, absolutely. It was only Sharpner, totally him. I had nothing to do with it."

"If you say so," she then said, her tone so serene that it almost made him want to break down crying and confess. Only trusting his head to answer for him, he nodded it to confirm his stance.

"Alright," the princess relented. A small smile appeared on her face, making Gohan feel as if everything was going to be alright. Drifting his eyes down as he began to relax once more, he couldn't help but notice that Videl's body was leaning towards him, causing her robe to hang slightly off of her body. This allowed him a slight window to see right into her cleavage, not a generous amount but enough to catch some attention. It was only a second, but that was all it took for Gohan's eyes to become fixated with them.

"Gohan? Is something wrong?"

Gohan shook his head, still staring dumbly. "No. Nothing's wrong."

"Then why are you not looking at my face? You seemed to be looking intently at something, but I am having a hard time determining…what that...is..."

The princess drifting off was Gohan's first warning. Unfortunately, his distracted mind didn't process this first alarm until way after a familiar stinging sensation formed on his check, followed by some very familiar swelling. This was the very obvious second warning hinting at the incoming danger even someone in his position couldn't ignore. Completely shaken out of his trance, the young man immediately found a seething princess, one of her arms drawn across her body, rage pouring from her body and making her face look like a pissed off bull.

"Just couldn't resist a peek, huh?" she demanded, leaning further over him. This time, Gohan's eyes didn't drift down as he was completely terrified. "And here I thought you knew better! I should drown you like the other guy!"

"B-but I couldn't h-help it!" Gohan protested meekly, trying to put up some kind of defense. "You were leaning over me and my eyes just stop there! Honest!"

This time a fist hit him in the face. Gohan had to admit, the princess packed some power behind those little fists of hers. Too bad he'd only have that thought when he woke up the next morning.

* * *

><p>When Ms. Videl Son and I were planning out this story, I had asked my lovely counterpart for some clothes ideas, since my ideas of fashion are quite limited due to the presense of my Y-chromosone. Taking that request, MVS made three pages worth of sketches for various outfits, mostly relating to Videl and one of them just happened to be of her in a bathrobe. At the time she had joked about anime being known for having bathhouse incidents and guys finding ways to spy on the girls' side of the bath. This chapter is a result of that lol. You could even consider this as a homage to the infamous bathhouse scene, one of many other homages that shall appear througout this story.<p>

To I'm a person: Lol MVS deserves all of the credit for that one. She was the mastermind of that scene.

To Supergirl 111: What's not to love about that part? lol

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	21. And a Change of Clothes for the Princess

It was the worst possible time to notice it. Truly, any time before now would've been so much better to make this discovery. How she hadn't noticed it, she didn't know, but she had now and there was no way she could travel in this predicament. She had to fix this first before they would be going anywhere.

She needed some new clothes.

Videl couldn't help but blame the state of her dress on that fight yesterday. She knew it was covered in mud of course, but she really didn't care since she had been so exhausted. But the mud was of little concern at this point. Her dress was ripped and torn all over the place, making it unable to cover her in any way, shape, or form. There was no way she would be walking the roads of this world with certain parts of her body showing. She wasn't like Launch in that regard. So, the first thing she needed to do was get the remains of her male companions and make them get her a new outfit.

Walking through the halls of the inn, Videl searched for their rooms. She had first went to the baths since that had been the last place she had left them. Sometime between then and now, the two had been removed from their various states of unconsciousness and/or possible deaths and placed somewhere else; thus her reason for looking for their rooms. Curse her inability to figure out where exactly those rooms were.

Resorting to checking every room that she could find, she grabbed the handle to the latest door she arrived it, swinging it open and looking into the dimly lit room. Seeing no one in there, she slammed the door shut with a look of disgust. Her patience for this was growing very, _very_ thin at the moment.

Coming to another door, she repeated the first step, this time finding the room occupied. Squinting her eyes, she looked to see if the person she saw was who she was looking for. When that did nothing to reveal the person's identity, she barged in and announced her presence. "Hey moron, wake up! We have to talk."

A low groan followed her announcement, reluctant movements being made as well. A familiar head of black hair appeared and Videl knew she had found one of last night's victims. "But Mr. Piccolo, can't I have five more minutes?" he mumbled.

Videl could feel her anger rising again. "Do I look like a guy to you?" she bellowed. That caused Gohan's head to shoot up, turning to look at her a moment later as his eyes focused on her. He adverted his eyes from her robe-clad body once he realized that was all she was wearing. She couldn't help the smug feeling she felt well up in her after seeing that; apparently he had learned his lesson from last night. There was hope for this lad yet.

"Wh-what I can I do for you, Princess?" he asked hesitantly.

"First, you can get out of bed and find Sharpner. Second, I need to get some knew clothes."

"What's wrong with your dress? Is it still muddy?"

So Gohan hadn't noticed the other damage to her dress. She didn't know whether to take that as a good thing or a bad thing. "My dress is completely ruined. It has tears all over it and there is no way I am traveling around in something that will not be able to hold itself together for a day."

Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he began climbing out of his bed. "I'll go find Sharpner then. I'll get some of the money he won yesterday and leave a note for him."

Videl cocked an eyebrow. "And why are you leaving him a note?"

"Well, I figure you want to take care of your…uhh, wardrobe problem as soon as possible and it'll be easier to just take the money and get you new clothes then to wake him up. He can meet us there if he wakes up before we get back."

Videl pondered that for a moment before nodding her head in satisfaction. "I will be waiting for you at the front. Do not be long."

* * *

><p>Gohan stared at the wall as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. Unfortunately, it was the only thing interesting in the shop he could find to entertain himself. Videl had been in a closed off area trying on some new clothes and he had yet to see her reappear. That had left him to settle on his own devices and it was just his luck that this shop had absolutely nothing that could distract him for some period of time. Heck, the two had been in that shop for so long, Sharpner had had enough time to wake himself up, wonder where the hell he was and why he had such a pounding headache, wandered about the inn trying to find an outhouse, do his business at said outhouse, find Gohan's note, make his way to the shop while harassing any attractive girls he could find, and finally arrive at the shop to be as bored as he was.<p>

And the sad part of this whole thing was that the shop had only one outfit.

That's right, just one set of clothes. The shop had run out of women's clothing _and_ men's clothing the day before. The only thing the shopkeeper had was a set that he had been keeping for…a special occasion. Gohan wasn't sure what occasion it could possibly be, but Videl had snatched the outfit out of the man's hands and disappeared into an area that had been cordoned off for changing.

Sharpner seemed to share Gohan's sentiments as well. "How long does it take to put on some lousy clothes? I swear, women practically need someone to hold their hand when they need to buy something."

Well alright, Gohan didn't agree completely with Sharpner on all he said, but he had half of a point. That counted for something, right? Deciding to see if he could speed this process up somewhat, he walked over to the curtained enclosed space the princess was in. "Videl? Are you having any trouble in there?"

The young man was greeted with silence before he heard a mumbled "I am not coming out. Not in this." This caused Gohan to frown. What was wrong with the clothing? Was she just trying to be difficult or something?

"We can't stay here all day," he tried again. "If we have to, we can stop off at another village to get you something else, but right now it'll have to do. Alright?"

"No, it is not alright. In fact, it's beyond not being alright! I look ridiculous in this!"

Gohan sighed. "It can't be as bad as you think it is. Why don't you come out so we can get going. The longer you stay in there, the further away your friend gets and we've lost too much time here as it is."

Again, the princess responded with silence. Eventually, she muttered again "Alright. I'm coming out." Taking a few steps back to give her some space, Gohan waited patiently for the girl to come out.

When the curtain was drawn aside, Gohan's mouth immediately dropped to the ground, his eyes bulging out before a stream of blood shot out of his nose, causing him to fly off his feet and land on the ground. Dazed, the young man swore his eyes were playing tricks on him. There…there was just no way Videl of all people would wear something like…that. Tilting his head towards the girl, he quickly figured out that yes, yes she was wearing what he thought she was wearing.

It was all tight. Nothing was left to the imagination, and men all over the world could imagine a lot if you gave them the chance. A dark blue leotard covered her torso, stopping around her chest and pushing up her assets. Those were the first things Gohan's eyes kept going too and it was proving harder and harder to look anywhere else. The little white bow nestled between her breasts weren't helping to direct attention elsewhere either.

Videl held herself ramrod straight, her fishnet stocking covering her legs from toe to the high-rising cut of the leotard leg holes. Her arm length gloved arms crossed over her chest, indicating how uncomfortable she was and causing her breasts to become even more prominent than they already were. She had seen the dark-haired youth's reaction and well, she wasn't use to such reactions being caused by her. In fact, she felt rather foolish in this…what ever the hell this thing was.

However, she wasn't the only one to see Gohan falling onto his ass. Sharpner and the shopkeeper, the same guy that had tried to get Launch's attention the previous day, had seen it too and had come to investigate. Their reactions were close to Gohan's except they had more drool and managed to remain standing.

Well, that and Videl's fist striking their faces in one blow to stop them from staring.

Apparently though, libido was a very powerful pain reliever as both men continued to ogle the princess from high-heeled feet to the bunny ears perched on her head. "I would kill to see more women dressed like that," Sharpner finally said.

"Are you _insane_?" Videl shouted, her face burning in embarrassment. "I can't go out in public like this!" Twisting her pretty face into exasperation, she added to the shopkeeper "Why do you even _have_ this?"

Upon being addressed, the shopkeeper woke out of his lust-induced stupor. "Some guy came into town a few months ago. Talked about starting this pamphlet thing with pictures in it of women dressed like that. He gave me a sample outfit in case I found a girl that would wear it. Said it would revolutionize the world or something and I must say, I think he's right."

A rant about how sick and perverted men were was about to spring from the depths of Videl's vocal cords, but she had her attention diverted at the last second. Hanging on a stand right behind the shopkeeper was brown woolen dress, one that looked just about her size. "Hey, I thought you said you were out of women's clothes!"

The man looked stupefied, not that he already wasn't. "Yeah, I am. So?"

"Then what is the dress doing right behind you?"

Turning around, the shopkeeper's eye fell on the dress. A few seconds went by as he processed this new development, which was followed by a split-second decision. Grabbing it, he pulled it off its stand and proceeded to tear it into a pile of rags. Once he was done, he turned back to Videl and said "Now we're all out of clothes."

Videl's Pervert Punisher collided with his face a second later, knocking the man out cold. Standing with her legs spread and her arms holding the mallet in front of her, the princess seethed, her chest expanding and contracting rapidly as she made loud huffs. Apparently even her weapon could somehow fit in tight-fitting clothes. "We're leaving," she growled as moved her mallet behind her, her hand moving back empty. Stalking towards the door, Sharpner and Gohan were treated to the sight of Videl's backside swinging from side to side, a large puff of cotton moving with it as it sat right above that body part. They were even given the bonus of seeing the uncovered upper half of her back, though the princess' hair did its best to provide some cover.

"Dude, I'm _sooo_ gonna be enjoying this trip," Sharpner said.

* * *

><p>It had been hard, but eventually the three had gotten word about Erasa. They had to search most of the village, but when they finally got something that pointed in her direction, they jumped on it and hit the road without looking back. It wouldn't have been so hard if Videl had been in her normal choice of clothes. As if were, the whole village was buzzing about her new attire, the women scoffing about it and their offended sensibilities and the men continuously trying to get a better look at her. It was for that reason that asking anyone with a Y-chromosome was utterly useless. They ended up having an old lady point them in the right direction, though they had kept Videl out of her sight.<p>

Unfortunately, their encounter with Launch had delayed them. Erasa had been seen the day before, shortly before the three of them had entered town to get supplies. Now she had a whole day on them and this did nothing to help Videl's increasingly violent temper.

And then there was Sharpner.

Aside from a quick stop for lunch, Videl had been avoiding the blond the best she could, usually using Gohan as a human shield between her and his lecherous eyes. The two had run circle around the dark-haired youth practically all day. In the end, Gohan had gotten dizzy—she wasn't sure how that was accomplished but it did happen—and forced the two to separate, something that Videl was eternally grateful for and Sharpner was less than thrilled about.

However, now Videl was facing her latest obstacle. The sun was setting at the horizon, darkness claiming every inch the burning ball of light gave it. The three of them had made camp and dinner—a much acceptable one than that measly bread and cheese from earlier—had been consumed. Neither of those was her problem though.

It was their sleeping arrangement.

While Videl truly despised this…this…bunny rabbit monstrosity, it really made her scorn it more when she discovered in her changing room that she couldn't keep her protection on, i.e. her chastity belt. Just to make this thing fit, she had to remove it and store it in one of the packs. This made her feel very defenseless.

A fact that Sharpner was well aware of. _Very_ well aware of.

Biting her lip as she sat on a stump near the fire, Videl pondered endlessly what she could do, crossing her legs as she weighted her options. There was no way she trusted him to keep his hands to himself if she fell asleep and she needed to sleep. She had considered knocking the blond out, but there was no telling when he would wake up. While the morning would have been preferable—or even better, never again—it would be her luck that he recovered in the middle of the night and decide to pull something on her. She needed a buffer, something that would make the blond thing twice before he attempted something unsavory.

She needed a handful of bear traps.

Unfortunately, they were lacking in that department, so she needed to come up with something else. As her eyes began slowly looking about, she found them focusing on the other male in their trio. Gohan had been an okay shield earlier and it was very likely he could do the same now. But what could she possibly do to use him as her new protection? It wasn't like he was Sharpner-resistant. If anything, he was the reason why Sharpner was here to begin with.

"Hey Sharpner?" Gohan suddenly spoke up, catching his and Videl's attention. "You're good with a sword right? Could you do a quick spar with me?"

"Of course I'm good with a sword," Sharpner scoffed in reply. "I'd probably run you through on pure instinct. But if you want me to train you in my deadly art, I'll be happy to show you."

"Alright," the man replied eagerly. "I've been slacking off a bit lately, so I'm rusty. I really appreciate this." Looking around, he spotted some stick lying nearby, moving towards them and retrieving two decent sized ones. "I don't think we have any swords on us, so I think we could practice with these."

"What ever," Sharpner said. Videl watched on as the two of them moved off a small distance, each holding their stick in front of them and facing each other. And as they began, Videl couldn't help the thoughts that were running through her had at the moment.

There really was a Kami. Oh thank you, thank you, thank you Kami! Really, she couldn't have asked for a better miracle than this. If Gohan could tire Sharpner out with this exercise of theirs, then perhaps the blond wouldn't be able to do anything but sleep! This Gohan guy wasn't as moronic as she thought!

Everything seemed to fall together as dark set in. Despite Sharpner's boasting, he was more of a practice dummy than sparing partner. Videl was no expert when it came to fighting mind you, but even she could tell Gohan had some sort of training, though not completely honed. But it was more than enough to parry aside Sharpner's sloppy strikes and flashy maneuvers. By the end of it all, both were sweaty and exhausted, though it was the blond that looked like he was about to collapse into a pile of useless jelly. Gohan on the other hand seemed satisfied, a smile on his face as he sat down a ways from the fire, right where a blanket just so happened to be. Videl didn't remember that appearing, but knowing this guy, he had probably set it out when no one was paying attention.

"Oh Kami, I can't feel my arms," Sharpner complained out loud, breathing heavily. Shifting a bit, he looked right at Videl and allowed himself some sort of brain activity. "Hey, that doesn't look like it'll keep you warm tonight. Why don't you come here and let ol' Sharpner give you all the warmth you'll need."

Videl scowled. "I rather cuddle next to a rotting corpse. Besides, you smell."

The blond smirked. "That's the smell of manliness, babe. You better get use to it now cause you'll be smelling it for the rest of your life."

A shiver went down her spine. Did he really think she wanted to spend the rest of her life with a nimrod like him willingly? Over his dead body she would! Reaching out, Videl's hand found a piece of the firewood the men had collected earlier, one that just happened to be a thick, stout log. With a swing, she threw it at Sharpner's head, her aim ringing true as the piece of wood nailed him in the face. The blond's body went prone as its resident brain went lights out.

"Pervert," Videl grumbled, shifting herself to look away, her nose sticking up into the air while her arms crossed over her chest. There was just no reasoning with the guy. At least she knocked him out for the night; yet she couldn't help but want some…insurance while she slept.

Looking at Gohan, who had made himself comfortable under his blanket, an idea sprang into her head. Though she rather not have to do it, she was quite positive it would have the desired result she sought if her imagined worst case scenario occurred. Getting up, absently brushing off her backside as she did so, she strode over to the young man and laid down next to him, grabbing part of his blanket and pulling it over her.

"Vi-videl, what are you doing?" she heard Gohan asked, clearly startled by this development.

"What does it look like? I'm going to sleep," she said, turning her back to him as she made herself comfortable.

"B-but I was using this blanket—"

"And? As much as I hate to admit it, Sharpner was right about this thing I am wearing not keeping me warm. So instead of using him for something I need but refuse to get from him, you will have to do it." Turning her upper body so she could look at him somewhat, she added "Is that a problem?"

"I…uhhh, well it…." he stuttered, not able to come up with something coherent.

"Is there a problem? I thought men wanted a woman in their bed. Or am I not good enough for you?" she then said, her eyes narrowing.

Gohan gulped. "N-no, I s-suppose you can stay. I just—"

"Then it's settled," Videl ended the conversation, turning back to face away from him. Unfortunately, sleep didn't exactly come to sweep her off her high-heeled feet as she wished it would. And telling from Gohan's rigid posture behind her, he wasn't either. Well, she might as well try to occupy her mind rather than fitfully wait for sleep to come.

"Who taught you to fight?" she said, causing Gohan to jump slightly.

"You mean with the swords?" he clarified. "Umm, Mr. Piccolo taught me not too long ago. I kinda wish I had been keeping up with it, but I sorta lost track of it over the last few weeks."

"Who is this Mr. Piccolo you keep talking about?"

"He and I were travel companions since I was little. I've practically been with him all my life. You could even say he's my mentor or guardian even."

Videl frowned. "Why were you with him? Why not your parents?"

She felt Gohan shrug behind her. "I don't really remember my parents. I do remember having them, but then one day I was with Mr. Piccolo. I'm not sure what happened and how I ended up with him, but he grew on me." A chuckle came from him then. "He used to be so grouchy, I remember. He would try to purposely be mean me, to scare me. But then he just calmed down one day and started teaching me all kinds of things. How to climb trees, pack a pack, build a fire, and other stuff. He even taught me some magic too."

By now, Videl had turned to face the young man, looking at him curiously. "You know some magic? What kind?"

This time, Gohan looked embarrassed. "Just some basic defense magics really. Mr. Piccolo always said I had no talent for it."

"It sounds to me like he is always a grouch. Why did you stay with him for so long?"

Another shrug. "What else was I suppose to do? I had no where else to go and eventually I had been with him for so long, it was just the way life was. Wake up, practice, travel, eat, drink, sleep. That was how every day was and I was use to it."

"Excuse me for saying this, but that does not sound like a very exciting life," Videl deadpanned.

"I suppose not, but I liked it. I'll probably spend the rest of my life doing it and I really wouldn't mind it," he replied.

"Are you serious?" Videl said incredulous. "Why not try to raise your status in the world? Join a house and become a lord? Do something with yourself. I mean, you have all this free time on your hands, you could be having grand adventures."

The young man shrugged his shoulders. "I guess that sounds fun, but to be honest, I rather just keep doing what I'm doing. I'm not hurting anyone and no one's hurting me." He paused for a moment, lost in thought. "It's the only life I really know."

"It must be nice to know what your future is."

"Huh? You don't know yours?"

Videl gave him a look. "You found me all alone in a giant castle with a dragon for a guard and a blonde girl who would somehow get through a field of booby traps for company. My life is not my own and I must do what my father plans for me. If he tells me I must stay in such a solitary castle, then stay I must."

"Oh…so was it your father's choice to keep you there. Does that also make him responsible for making you wear a chastity belt?"

The look became a glare. "So you were peeping. How else would you know I wear one?"

The young man began to sweat nervously. "N-no, I just heard Sharpner yell it out and when you climbed over the fence, I could only assume he meant you."

That made sense, though Videl had this feeling that her claim was much more on point. But for now, she'd let him have his fantasy. "If you must know, yes he wants me to wear it. Unfortunately, I am unable to wear it now."

A few seconds passed before she felt the blanket lift off of them for a moment. Did…did Gohan just check to make sure her words were true? How could he not notice that already? The only way would be if he wasn't checking her out, unlike their other travel companion…

"How…how did you take it off? I thought it had locks on it?"

"How else? I picked the locks. It was not too hard."

"Lock picking? How would you know something like that?"

Again, she gave him a look. "As I said earlier, I was all alone in a big castle. I had to do something to occupy my time and that was just one of the things I tried out. I used the locks on the belt for practice many a time."

A silence passed. "So is that why you're sleeping next to me? Because you don't have your belt on?"

"Oh heavens no! I think you are a very strapping lad and I wish to make you notice me so that we can start a family and live happily ever after," she replied in a voice so thick with sarcasm, even a deaf man could hear it. "Of course that's the reason why! I don't want Sharpner trying anything on me like this and the only way I can think of to keep him at bay is to have another man within two feet of me."

"Would it help if I…put my arm around you?"

"If you so much as lay one figure on me and I will collect your manparts and feed them to a pack of wolves."

"Right, no touching," Gohan said quickly. "Umm, sleep well I guess."

Returning to facing away again, Videl felt satisfied. Oh yes, she definitely enjoyed putting the peasant in his designated place. Now if she could get some shut-eye, everything would be perfect. That and Sharpner's sudden death during the night. That would be greatly appreciated.

* * *

><p>This makes the second homage in a row! Toriyama had his lead heroine, Bulma, dress up in a bunny suit waaaaay back Dragonball; I now pay homage to that great idea with my own heroine, Videl. It's another idea Ms. Videl Son and I joked about when coming up with costume ideas. At first I was hesitant to do so because I couldn't figure out a good place to use it...until I remembered the mud wrestling scene. That proved to be too good of an opportunity to pass up for this lovely set of clothing. I sincerely thank Mr. Toriyama for that wonderful inspiration. Truly a great man.<p>

You can also check out our lovely Princess Playmate in megaminoeien's _DQZ Bunny _fanart along with her costume sketches. I'm pretty sure the bunny suit and the bathrobe are on the same...yes, they're on the same sketch page; _DQZ Wardrobe - Page 2_. There's a repeat of the bunny suit in _DQZ Wardrobe - Page 4_ as well. And yes, I am promoting fan service; nothing wrong with that at all...

To I'm a person: He is, but just saying no isn't that hard to lie about. It's when you tell a complex story as a lie that you're bound to get caught on.

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	22. They Finally Found Their Friend

A little while ago, I was talking to MVS about clothing descriptions, mostly because I had no idea on what article of clothing was what. About that time she began telling of a different method of describing clothes in a story that I thought was interesting. Rather than throwing everything together in a quick paragrapah, she said to spread it out throughout the scene. So I wanted to try it out and I must say I like it. The first time I did it was for the bunny suit and I must say that description is the best one I've done to date. I'm definitely gonna keep experimenting with it, so please let me know what you guys think of it. We must keep our writing styles evolving after all.

* * *

><p><em>Year 660<em>

_Gero sat in chair, a glass of brandy in his hand. Taking a sip from it, he relished the burn as it went down his throat. He was going to need more of this in the coming days as his latest decree had been met with as much uproar as he had thought it would._

_He had made the right decision, that of which Gero was positive about. He had expected the Monkey House to decry it as was natural. Yet he was correct in saying the Turtle and Ribbon Houses shouldn't put forth their own resources into a wild goose chase. If there was one constant he knew, it was that Demons were ruthless and held no mercy to those they deemed inferior. Even a child would feel their wrath should they wish it._

_With the final collapse of the Demon House, Gero saw the chances that the kidnapper Piccolo would kill the child had increased greatly. It was tragic, but that was just the facts and the Monkeys had refused to see it that way. In fact, if their situations were reversed, Gero could easily see himself making the same protestations._

_Unfortunately, that put him in a very uncomfortable position. His reign as the Head Stewart of the Head House would be coming to a close in the next couple of years, returning him to his previous role as Head of the Ribbon House. The Monkey House would hold ill-will toward him for as long as he lived, probably even attempting an assassination if they could arrange one. The Ribbon House would be at very poor odds should the Monkey Lords do everything they could to reduce the House to a Minor one._

_If there was one thing about the Head House, it allowed all who controlled it a very clear view of how each house was an extremity of power. The Monkeys were a warrior house that was second to none. In contrast, the former Demon House had been on the opposite side of combat, specializing in magic. Sure they were capable of weapon and hand-to-hand combat, but their skills were very distant to the Monkeys. The Turtle House represented a balance between weapon and magic skills, knowing enough to be second to each house in their respective field, but never tasting the fruits of superiority. Perhaps this is what kept the Turtle House as the most humble of the four._

_The Ribbon House, however, was not a close combat or magic house. Nor would one go as far to say it was a balanced one, like the Turtle House. Instead, they were the ones that created strategy, the ultimate generals behind every war. If they had to fight, their archery was superior to even the Monkey archers, much to his satisfaction and their chagrin. Why fight an opponent within spitting distance when you could shoot them dead several yards away? Though frowned upon, it was the leadership of his House that led to the defeat of the Demon House, wielding the Monkey and Turtle warriors expertly. It was their niche and the only one that would put them on par with the other Houses._

_Unfortunately, it was not a house that could sustain continuous pressure. The lands and people under its control were in constant fluctuation economically. One moment their lands would be of priceless worth, the next you couldn't sell them for a lame donkey. There was little economic stability in those that lived and worked the lands, a natural case of curiosity and restlessness always making them seek out for better opportunity._

_In order to obtain some stability, Gero needed help. With the Demons gone and the Monkeys very reluctant to build a stronger alliance, the only house left was the Turtle House as someone the Ribbon House could lean on. But how could he get them to agree to such? They were a passive house to begin with and their Head, Roshi, was a man of unpredictability. One moment he was a man no one would wish to contend with, the next he was chasing the skirt of any pretty girl he encountered. It was almost maddening in a way._

_Hold on, a pretty girl? Yes, that could work. He could offer the hand of one of his most beautiful ladies to a Turtle Lord, sealing an alliance agreement. And he had the very lady in mind. Though her beauty was undeniable, her cold attitude was what kept many a promising lord away from asking her hand in marriage. Considering the debt she owed him, she would be easy to sway to enter the marriage. That just left the Turtle candidate. There was no way Gero would just had her over to some random fellow_—especially Roshi—_he had higher morals than that, though admittedly they were not used regularly. In this instance though, he would not hand over one of his ladies to a man who did not deserve her. He would find the perfect candidate in due time._

_It was all coming together._

* * *

><p>"This village better have some clothes in them. I swear to Kami there is a conspiracy to keep me in this ridiculous thing," Videl grumbled. Flanking her were Gohan and Sharpner as then entered the latest village in their search for Erasa. For reasons unknown to them, she had taken a path that went all over the place, sometimes going through villages they had already been to, backtracking at times, and overall getting them more lost than they had ever been before. It was…worrisome.<p>

And during all that time, Videl had become Gohan's bed partner. They hadn't done anything other than sleep mind you, but Gohan was proud to say he could get through the night without holding himself like a board. He still had other bodily functions occurring, but it was easy to hide those by lying with his back to the girl.

However, Gohan had become sensitive to the princess's plight. Seeing as the blond of their group was still trying to find ways into her leotard, Gohan felt he needed to assist Videl in keeping herself non-violated. So in order to help, the young man had taken to using Sharpner as a sparing partner for his swordplay. Though he didn't know if he had improved his skills, it was at least better than what he was previously doing. It also had the added bonus of wearing out Sharpner right before bedtime. One would have thought the blond would've tried weaseling his way out of sword practice by now, but Gohan supposed he must've had some pride thing going on to make him continue.

And if Sharpner had enough energy after their practices, Videl had the pleasure of sending him into unconsciousness. Surprisingly enough, the princess seemed to prefer not having to beat the blond up. It was almost if she hoped Sharpner would be utterly wiped out before she had to lift a finger. Perhaps that had something to do with her princess-upbringing and having servants doing that sort of thing for her.

In the meantime, the three had run across many villages, each oddly enough having a clothing shortage. The first time, Videl was exasperated to hear it. The second, she grew angry. By the time they had arrived at lucky number seven—which coincidentally was called Seven Village for some odd reason—it seemed as if there was no future for the princess outside of the bunny suit. Not that many men were complaining about that, though their wives took issue with it. Such was life.

"Look on the bright side," Sharpner said, causing the princess to glower at him. "You still get to look hot."

"I'm going to just ignore that," Videl grumbled as she began walking faster, neither of the guys changing their pace to keep up with her. It wasn't like she was going to leave them in the dust or anything. She wasn't Erasa after all.

A low murmuring sound began to occur as the three moved deeper into the village. At first they ignored it, labeling it as village chatter and gossip amongst the residents. However, when they reached a particular shop declaring it as the best bakery in the Turtle Lands, the three stopped as they saw a crowd hovering at its entrance. The majority of the crowd was young men, roughly the same ages as Gohan and Sharpner. Each one was moving about, trying to see over the person in front of them, who was also trying to see the person in front of them and so on.

"I wonder what's going on there," Gohan said out loud.

"Probably some promotional stunt," Sharpner brushed off. "Those places do those sorts of things all the time."

"What do you mean 'promotional stunt'?" Videl inquired, looking at the blond.

"Well, the shops sometimes try to attract customers by doing some sort of promotion. Sometimes it's free food, other times there's a challenge. It's usually rigged though."

"Free food?" Videl perked up at that. "It would be terrible if we skipped an opportunity to add to our supplies at little cost to us. Come on, we are going to take advantage of this stunt."

Seeing nothing wrong with that line of thinking, the young men followed behind the princess, coming to a stop at the back of the crowd, waiting patiently for their turn. As some time passed by, Videl began to grow impatient. "What sort of challenges do you think they will have us do?"

"Something with strength," Sharpner replied, running a hand through his hair. "And since I'm the strongest one of us, I think it would be best if I was the one to do this challenge. That way you get to see how manly I can be." The blond began wiggling his eyebrows up and down suggestively at the last part, causing a look of disgust to appear on Videl's face.

"Well if you are as strong as you claim, why don't you get us into the shop so that we can get this over with."

A smirk appeared on Sharpner's face. "With pleasure." Pushing into the crowd, Sharpner began fighting his way through them. "Make way! Incredibly strong guy coming through!"

The crowd didn't take to his approach too well. "Hey wait your turn!" one of them cried out, many hands shoving the blond back the way he came. "We were here first!"

"Get out of my way weaklings! I have to impress my girl, so if you don't get out of my way, I'm gonna have to put the hurt on ya," Sharpner shot back, oblivious to the angry expression covering the princess' face behind him.

Apparently, the crowd didn't believe a word he said. "You have a girlfriend?" one of them questioned. "Ha! Pigs'll fly before that would ever happen!"

"Oh yeah? Then how do you explain her!" Sharpner shouted, pointing his finger at Videl. Immediately, the crowd facing the three went silent, all eyes focused squarely on the provocatively clad princess. Before Videl even had the opportunity to begin feeling uncomfortable, the guys were falling over each other as they tried to win over her interest.

"Hey babe, why stay with the loser when you can have a winner?" a voice said from the lunging mass of ogling and drooling men. "Why don't we go somewhere more private so we can get to know each other," another admirer said. Following that one was "Girl, you make me want to unsheathe my sword." And that was only the beginning as more and more innuendo-laden lines were thrown at the princess.

As Gohan and Sharpner were tossed aside so that the horde of horny men surrounded her on all sides, a vein began pulsing on Videl's forehead as her hands clenched tightly into fists. The extremely short fuse on her temper was three seconds away from being consumed; at two seconds forming a plan of retribution that would cause the most damage to property and bodies as possible; and finally made a plan that passed her criteria at one second left.

When her fuse was gone, the Pervert Punisher was drawn from its hiding place and proceeded to destroy as many of the now frightened men as possible. It didn't matter whether they tried to escape or not, all felt Videl's wrath within a few short moments. Broken bodies of barely conscious men soon littered the area, lying on the ground, hanging from rooftops, or imbedded in the walls of buildings. Moans of suffering filled the air as the princess stood amidst the bodies, her heavy breathing the only sound she was making. The only two spectators that were there looked on in silent fright, hoping against hope that they wouldn't be the next victims.

And fortunately for them, the next one happened to emerge from the shop's doorway. "What the? What happened here?" a familiar feminine voice said.

As the three turned their collective attention, they found Erasa looking about the battleground perplexed. She looked to be in good health, her appearance flawless, and clothes in pristine condition. It was almost as if she had never been traveling this entire time.

Her confusion disappeared as soon as her eyes found Videl. "Videl! I can hardly believe my eyes! You are here!" she cried out, rushing over to the princess. Flinging herself, she practically tackled the dark-haired girl in a tight embrace, the two somehow managing to stay on their feet. "This is wonderful! Now we can go to the capital together!"

Videl seemed to be in improved spirits as well. "I cannot described how relieved I am to see you again," she said in as pleasant a voice as she could, despite her previous activities. That changed though, when she began to reprimand the blonde. "I was so worried about you! Do not go off by yourself again! Do you understand?"

"Oh calm down Videl. As you can see, I am perfectly alright." As if to prove her point, she spun around in a circle, the skirt of her dress bellowing around her until she came to a stop. As she did so, she soon realized her dark-haired friend was not dressed the way she remembered her. Looking her friend up and down from the bunny ears to the high-heeled shoes, Erasa's eyes soon settled right on the princess' bosom. A calculating look appeared on her face as some sort of brain activity was going on. "Hey! You're bigger than me!" she suddenly exclaimed, a sour look appearing on her face while a confused one appeared on Videl's. "I can't believe this, not only are you a princess, but you also have bigger assets! It's not right! It's not fair! Why can't I be the one with the better qualities!"

Sharpner and Gohan looked at each other questioningly. Did women actually compare their breasts sizes? And how could one even tell which was bigger for that matter? Just looking at the two of them, they both looked to be the same size, but apparently Erasa could tell the difference.

"And where did you get this outfit? Where _could_ you ever find this thing?" the blonde continued to rant, though this time Videl felt compelled to defend herself.

"Hey, I have no choice but to wear this thing, so _excuuuuuuuuuuse_ me. I have never been so embarrassed in my entire life and the only reason I'm wearing it is because I had to chase you all over the place. In fact, you should be the one to wear this thing!"

"That is sooo not my color Vi. I thought you would have known that," Erasa shot back, clearly annoyed. They had been friends for so long, you would have thought they would've known every last detail of each other, from the dress material Erasa preferred to Videl's favorite placement of booby traps.

"Oh you _are_ going to wear this if it's the last thing I do!" Videl shouted, reaching out to grab hold of the blonde. Unfortunately for her, Erasa seemed to have a premonition, a quick spark of intuition that told her that the dark-haired girl was about to do something bad to her. And that moment of insight allowed her to sprint in her high-heeled shoes behind Sharpner and use him as a human shield; though not a good one for that matter since Videl didn't seem to mind tearing the blond boy apart to get around him.

Of course, Sharpner had one of those pesky survival instincts that allowed him to stop Videl's clawing hands by grabbing her wrists, keeping her from mutilating him for several precious seconds. As he cried out in fright, struggling to keep his strength up against Videl's surprisingly powerful arms, Erasa raced away from him, taking refuge behind Gohan. Turning to go after her, the princess found herself hindered by Sharpner's grip around her, causing her to growl like a savage beast. "Take your filthy hands off of me or I'll rip your arms out of your sockets and beat you to death with them!"

"Milady!" a new voice called out, interrupting the insane scene between the four. Looking towards the shop, they saw the owner of the shop—the baker—standing outside of the store's door. "Pardon my intrusion, but you forgot your purchase."

Erasa's face lit up. "Oh! Thank you kind sir! I owe you many thanks for your wonderful hospitality," she said as she hurried over to the baker, accepting a large burlap bag. At least, she tried to before thinking better of it. "You, servant guy," she directed at Gohan, who looked taken back. "Retrieve the parcel from this kind gentleman."

"Me? Why?" the young man asked. This prompted Erasa to suddenly appear at his side, grabbing him by the ear and painfully pulling it towards her mouth. "These people think I'm a princess, you dolt," she hissed harshly. "If I don't have servants, then everyone here will get suspicious and probably try to tar and feather us for lying. Now get that damn bread before I rip your ear off, you twit!"

Well, that tar and feathering didn't sound to be too much fun, so once Erasa let go of his ear, he quickly went and accepted the bag full of goodies, though not before getting hit upside the head by the blonde's fist. "Servants," she sighed exasperatedly, "it is quite hard to find any good ones anymore."

The baker nodded his head pleasantly. "I understand Milady. Hopefully you can train this savage properly," he said, narrowing his eyes at Gohan.

"Well, it is best we get going," Erasa proclaimed as she began walking off. "Come along servants. It is time we recommence our journey."

As Gohan quickly followed the blonde, Sharpner and Videl just looked at her bewilderedly. It was several seconds before they realized they were being left behind and quickly followed after her, the two finally separating from each other. Once they were far enough away from the baker, Gohan took a peek into the sack and nearly dropped it in surprise. This whole thing was filled to the brim with bread! And not just any bread either, there were all kinds! Loafs, croissants, slices, pastries, breads made of wheat, rye, and grains that Gohan wasn't quite sure what to call. And if he remembered right, the fake-princess he was following didn't have a coin to her name…

"Umm, Era…I mean, Milady," he corrected upon seeing the murderous glance from the blonde. "How did you get all of this bread? I don't remember you having any…well…" here he lowered his voice to a whisper, "money."

Erasa waved off the question casually. "It was given to me for free. Apparently these villagers don't—I mean do not have beautiful women such as myself grace this town with their presense often. A little flirting here and there and they were kissing my feet and trying to duel each other for my good graces. I am pretty sure a few of them are lying dead somewhere."

Gohan stared at the girl before bowing his head in resignation. He was never going to figure out these princess-types.

Unfortunately, despite this fortunate turn of events, their good fortune had to come to an end. As the four reached the edge of town, they came across two oddly-coupled men. One was a large, bulky man of impressive stature. The goatee around his mouth was the only bit of hair on his head, the rest of it bald and giving off a bright shine when the sunlight hit it just right. Using his large body, he took up most of the street, making it quite tough to go around him.

Though his presence was the reason Gohan, Sharpner, and Videl stopped, it was the other guy that made Erasa halt in her tracks. He was handsome and he knew it. Blond hair longer than Sharpner's and a devilish grin, he held a rose by his cheek, giving off an air of haughtiness that made Sharpner begin taking notes. Erasa was completely smitten by him as she got a very silly expression on her face, a drop of drool beginning to run down from the corner of her mouth.

"My, my, what an interesting group of younglings," the handsome man said as he gave a wink to Erasa, causing her to swoon. "Pray tell, what may Caroni the Rose called such an exquisite young lady?"

"Me? I…umm…that is…" Erasa stuttered, a bright blush covering her face as she looked anywhere but at the man.

"There, there, I won't bite," the man said to ease the blonde. "Unless you want me to that is. I can be quite accommodating." At this the man began thrusting his hips back and forth suggestively, his tight white pants leaving nothing to the girl's imagination. This sent Erasa into a whole nother fit of swooning. All the while, Sharpner silently praised the man's daring and charm. This man was a god amongst insects.

He seriously needed to get this guy to teach him everything he knew.

"Now then, what is your name again?" Caroni asked again, leaning forward as his brown cloak hung from his body, his white shirt giving a grand view of his chiseled chest.

"Erasa," the blonde finally blurted out. Realizing she had made a blunder only known to herself, she quickly straightened herself out and said more calmly. "I am Princess Erasa. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Caroni grinned charmingly. "The pleasure is all mine. I am Sir Caroni, known amongst the common folk as Sir Caroni the Rose. But you can call me yours."

"Brilliant," Sharpner murmured, watching the man work in awe.

A coarse cough from the large man in blue clothes identical in style to Caroni's, thought thankfully not as tight, drew attention away from the blond man. "And this is Sir Piroshki the Mighty," Caroni added dully. Piroshki bowed his head and upper torso slightly in acknowledgement, his own brown cloak shifting as he did so. Adding more charm to his tone once more, the blond man added "We are two lonely travelers on a quest of great importance."

"A quest? Really?" Erasa breathed. "What is your quest, good sirs?"

Holding his head high, Caroni said "We are in search of the Unholy Grail. A cup so mysterious, no one has ever heard of it."

The four blinked their eyes in confusion. "But if no one knows about it, how do you know about it?" Gohan asked.

"We were sent on a quest for it, so naturally we would know."

"But how did the person who sent you know about it if no one knows about it?"

Caroni's eyes narrowed. "Nosy little bastard, aren't you?"

Gohan was taken back by that. "I-I'm not trying to be nosey, but if you follow what you said logically, it doesn't make any sense."

"Pfft, we have no use for logic here."

"But what about the Holy Grail?" Sharpner asked this time. "Isn't that the cup everyone is looking for?"

Again, Caroni brushed that off. "The Holy Grail has already been found, Dum Dum. That's why we're looking for the Unholy one, since no one has found it. Or heard of it."

"Caroni," Piroshki said, his voice thick with a foreign accent. "We waste much time here. We get girl now, yes?"

"Of course, of course," Caroni waved off the man. "Princess, if it is not too much trouble, would you mind accompanying my companion and me? We need a beautiful woman with us on our quest and you qualify most pleasantly."

Before Erasa could eagerly answer, Videl entered the conversation and killed the mood. "Oh no, Erasa is with us. Go get your own princess."

Both men stared at the dark-haired girl for a moment…make that several moments, blatantly ogling her not so modestly-covered body. "We take her," Piroshki whispered dazedly.

"Hey! My eyes are up here idiots!"

Snapping out of their trances, the two men shook their heads to clear their minds, took another moment to ogle Videl again, then continued moving the plot. "Ma'am, unless you wish to take the princess' place, we have to insist," Caroni explained. "Though please insist we take you. We can make such sweet music together, especially when you cry out my name."

Caroni received his answer when Videl's Pervert Punisher slammed into his face, sending him flying back several yards until he landed on the ground. He laid there for several seconds before he flung himself up, grasping his face. "My face! My beautiful face! How could you do such a despicable thing, you wench! Piroshki! Kill them all! I want them all dead, you hear me!"

"I hear, I hear," the larger man said, holding his hand up towards his blond friend as he nodded his head like a parent acknowledging their whiny child. Facing the four again, he then extended both of his arms out to his side, holding them at shoulder height with his hands balled into fists. Slowly, he began moving them, rotating them in circles at his sides, the speed at which they moved going faster and faster. Eventually, his arms were swinging so fast, they were blurs. "Say bye-bye," he said as his body began to glow eerily. "Megaton Bonecrusher!"

Immediately, a strong wind erupted from his body, slamming the four with the force of a tornado. With cries of terror and surprise, they all went flying into the air, large chunks of the ground being torn from where they stood and joining them. Pieces of wood and store were torn from the surrounding buildings as well. In fact, innocent bystanders that happened to be there were thrown off their feet.

And with the utter carnage occurring all around them, it wasn't long until Gohan and the rest of his companions were consumed by unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>To AnonymousVoid: Toriyama probably is running around somewhere. He does in his own manga story.<p>

To I'm a person: Everyone but Videl is pleased lol. Well, excluding wives of course.

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	23. And Lost Her Just as Quickly

When Videl came to, the first thing she noticed was that a body was on top of her. That and she was doing her best to become one with this body as her limbs held it tightly against her. Her arms were around its neck and her legs secured around its hips with a vice-like grip that ensured the body wouldn't be going anywhere without her say-so. Taking a moment, the princess soon figured that the body she was holding onto was a man's.

Wait a minute, a man!

As she slowly opened her eyes, a slight headache pounding at her temple, Videl found that she was indeed holding onto a man's body. She couldn't tell who it was exactly since his head was buried into her neck and fortunately he didn't seem to be quite as awake as her either. The last thing she needed was some weird pervert to get the wrong idea about her, especially since they were in a very compromising position. Just one ill-advised grinding motion would have labeled them indecent for life, that she was sure.

It did beg a question though; how the heck did she and this guy end up together? The last she remembered was being thrown into the air by some strong wind. No wait, a strong wind created by magic. And it had tossed her, the people around her, and a lot of debris into the air.

And while she was in the air, she faintly recalled someone flying into her, but that was it. She had blacked out after that. So it must've been this guy that flew into her and she instinctively latched onto him for some sort of support.

Slowly, she tilted her head to the side in which the man's head was resting against her. From what she could see, it was a head full of dark hair. That at least eliminated Sharpner from being the guy, thank Kami. She would never hear the end of it from the guy if they were discovered in such a pose. Relaxing her grip around the man, she tried to gently push the man off of her, hopefully freeing her from that awkward position. Unfortunately, all that did was cause the guy to stir, groaning as he returned from consciousness.

"Ow, my head," a slightly familiar voice grunted next to her ear. Some movement occurred as the guy began lifting himself off of her, stopping when he realized something was amiss. "Why is the ground so soft?" she heard him murmur, which caused Videl to grow slightly awkward and a bit impatient. How long was this guy gonna take in getting off of her?

A few moments later gave her an answer as the guy stiffened. Oh, now he caught up to her predicament. Ugh, guys were so stupid and slow. "Would you _mind_ getting _off_ of me?" she growled, trying to speed up this guy's very slow mental process. Almost immediately, his body shot up, trying to do as she asked, though he found a bit of a problem. Though Videl had let her arms move away from his neck, apparently her legs were still in lockdown mode and refused to let what was between them go. Not that Videl would admit to that. Everything was this guy's fault for putting her in such a crude position as she saw it and it was up to him to remedy the situation upon pain of excruciating mauling; such was the way of the rules of womanhood.

Looking up at the guy, Videl quickly recognized him as Gohan. Oh yeah, instead of giving her a non-perverted guy, Kami had to give her the other pervert in her company. Just terrific. "Well? Are you just going to stare at me all day or are you going to _get off of me?_"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Gohan rattled off like a rapid fire crossbow. Again he tried to do as she commanded but found that task to be a bit tough to follow as once again the princess' legs were holding onto to him like a pair of shackles. Losing his balance, Gohan fell back onto Videl, two short cries of surprise jumping out of their mouths before they were silences by their lips meeting each others'. Immediately, their eyes went wide open, yet neither made the move to separate from the other. It was as if…as if…as…if…

Critical brain failure.

"Oh Kami, why the heck does my back hurt?" Sharpner suddenly said out loud, returning the two dark-haired youths to their predicament and destroying their simultaneous laps of mental activity. The two parted quickly as possible, or at least Gohan tried to. He was successful enough to move off of Videl, but unfortunately put himself right in the perfect spot for her fist to slug him in the face and send him flying away.

Back on her feet, a bright blush on her face, Videl began walking away, trying to put as much distance between her and her last spot on the ground. She completely ignored the crumpled heap of Gohan's body, the top half buried under a pile of recently dug up dirt and a couple trails of smoke wafting into the air. One of his legs was twitching every so often.

"Ow, my back," Sharpner continued to complain when he suddenly fell silent. "Hey Princess! You're okay!" Suddenly, the blond was at her side looking her over supposedly for injury. "You don't look hurt," he said as he paid special interest to her bosom.

"If you don't stop looking at me, I'm gonna rip your eyes out of their socket," the young woman growled. And to make sure the guy knew the severity of his situation, she grabbed his hair at the front of his head and pulled up, causing a startled yelp to come from him. "Are we clear?" All she got was a gulp from the young man in answer. "Good."

Upon releasing his hair, Sharpner almost went back to ogling her again, but caught himself at the last microsecond, turning to look in the direction she was. "That was some spell huh?" he ventured.

Begrudgingly, Videl nodded her head. It wasn't often someone outside of a House knew a magic spell. Most magic users were of high class, such as herself, so it was very surprising to find a commoner with the ability. Yeah, Gohan had admitted to knowing some magic, but his ability was right where it should be, knowing basically nothing. But this guy…that had been a high powered offensive spell. Very troubling.

Apparently her silence to Sharpner's question was causing the lad to begin fretting. It wasn't very often he was ignored for long periods of time—long periods of time being a few seconds. "What did he even call that anyways? Something with bone crushing right? All I saw was a bunch of wind so I can't see how that could break someone's—"

"Oh Kami! My bones! They're crushed!" someone shouted from somewhere in the ruined area. Looking in the direction of the scream, Sharpner stared for several moments before saying "Oh…I see."

Rolling her eyes, Videl began looking around. So far she had had the misfortune to find the two guys so far. All they needed was Erasa to show her pretty little head and all would be alright. The longer she looked though, the more she began to believe that the blonde wasn't around.

Damn it, did they lose her again?

* * *

><p>"Let me go!" Erasa shouted, struggling in her bonds. On any other day, the blonde would have enjoyed being taken away by a dashing rouge, but since Caroni's face had some very displeasing features thanks to Videl's hammer, she was less than pleased with her current situation—that situation being her hands and feet tied together and that big guy with the accent carrying her on one of his shoulders like a sack of beans. No one treated her like a sack of beans, no one!<p>

"Caroni," Piroshki whined "You shut girl up, yes? She hurting my ears with screaming."

"Well, if you had let me pack the ball gag earlier, then you wouldn't have to worry about it," the blond man shot back, very upset. It wasn't everyday his handsome features were ruined. More specifically, his nose was crooked-looking with a trail of blood leaking from his nostrils, all thanks to that crazy girl in the bunny suit. He didn't care how hot she looked, she had destroyed his budding modeling career and deserved to die a painful, bone-crushing death.

Currently, the three were in out in the countryside, nothing remotely looking like civilization for miles unless one looked back the way they had come. Farmland stretched out for almost as far as the eye could see. One could make out land close to the horizon that was a large plain of grass, yet that wasn't where they were going. The dirt path they were on would fork off sooner or later and that would be wear they would meet the other member of their little group.

Now if only that could get that idiotic blonde to shut up for more than three seconds.

"If you don't release me _this_ instant, I swear I'll make your life a living hell! There won't be a place on this earth that you could hide from me!"

My, my, such commoner language from royalty. So full of contractions and a striking lack of big words. "Little girl, if you don't shut up, I'll cut that useless little tongue right out of your mouth," Caroni shot back at her. For several moments, the threat of permanent silence seemed to put the girl in a cooperative mood. That is until she spoke again.

"You don't have the balls."

Ouch, what a low blow. "You know, I'm beginning to wonder if you really are a princess," Caroni commented casually. "One would think that such a finely-bred girl like you would never lose control of your speech patterns. One could be lead to believe that you're not as civilized as you claim to be."

Erasa's mouth quickly closed itself, her eyes widening. Thank Kami for silence. Perhaps now their ears would be given a chance to—

"How _dare_ you insinuate that I am not of noble birth, you sad excuse for a frog's wart! You better hope to high heaven that I am not set loose or I promise you, you will not live to see another day with your reproductive areas intact!"

Or maybe not. Geez, this girl was crazy! Did she not have the respect for a man's pride and joy? It was almost as if she knew nothing more than to assault that one area. Damn those Self-Defense classes to hell!

But thankfully, the crossroad they were heading towards appeared in sight, just as they were passing next to a small hill. Unfortunately, that was when they met the sound of a very high-pitched voice, which combined with the blonde's voice to assault their poor eardrums. "Caroni! What in the world is it with these annoying girls you find? Honestly, can you not gag them before dragging them all the way out here?"

Appearing out of nowhere was a voluptuous woman with a mass of curly orange hair and yellow eyes that danced between being coy or mildly annoyed, depending on that time of month. And from the sound of her voice—and their present line of luck—it just so happened to be that time of the month. Joy.

"Well, I would have if Piroshki here had let me bring one," the man shot back, clearly fed up with how the day was going.

The woman rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips, her tight, low-cut red shirt just barely reaching high enough to cover her bosom. "Whatever, what kind of girl did you get this time?" At this, Piroshki hauled Erasa off of his broad shoulder and dropped her on the ground like a sack of…uhh, beans, the blonde yelping as her posterior made acquaintances with the ground.

Eyes narrowed, the woman paced around the girl, her yellow leggings clinging to her legs. "I must say, you two have outdone yourselves this time," she eventually remarked. Leaning closer to Erasa, one of her gloved hands grabbed onto her chin roughly and turned her head from side to side. "Very nice I must say. Where did you find her?"

Caroni shrugged his shoulders. "In the village a couple miles back; Seven Village I think they call it. She claims to be a princess on some trip."

"Well, she's about to cancel that trip of hers. She's just about to fetch us a nice price."

"Price?" Erasa squeaked. "Are you slave traders?"

The three looked at each other. "I suppose you could call us that," the woman answered. "We're more of an 'escort' service if anything."

"Escort service?"

"Yes, we find pretty girls like yourself and find a very lonely man that's willing to pay a certain sum of money at an auction and you get to keep him company. Some we rent out and others we sell for good."

"But that is slavery! Sex slavery!"

The woman waved off the declaration with a wave of her hand. "Details, details. It doesn't really matter what it is to you since you'll be in the service."

"Miss Pizza," Piroshki spoke up. "Perhaps best if we move now. Not good for us to stay."

"Very well," Pizza replied. "We can go over the finer details along the way. Like getting her some better clothes. That dress is so gaudy, I think my eyes will fall out."

The world around Erasa came to a stand-still. Did…did that woman just diss her dress? How _dare_ she? You can beat her, torture her, pull her hair out, or maim her for life, but no one, _no one_ messed with the dress.

As she sat on the dirty ground, her body as still as a statue, her light blue eyes slowly became a bloody red, the world around her taking on that same hue.

There _will_ be blood spilled this day.

* * *

><p>To I'm a person: I see the chapter's blown your mind lol<p>

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	24. But Found Her Handiwork Soon After

_Year 671_

_It was pure luck. Truly, any sign of the Demon Lord Piccolo was rare, if not impossible to detect. Yet the menace had slipped up. He had been so careful to avoid any place where a large group of people could identify him. Yes, there had been the occasional village he had stopped in, but usually anyone that could accurately identify him would say it had been months since they had seen him, effectively making the tip a dead end._

_But not today._

_Though it had been decreed that the Turtle and Ribbon Houses bared no more burden to help the Monkey House hunt down the demon responsible for kidnapping one of their own, Tien was not one to allow such a trespass to go unpunished. He did not like leaving such tragedies without some form of closure, regardless of who was on which side of the outcome. It was a matter of principle; after all, it could've just as easily happened to his own House, albeit one that was of minor standing._

_The Crane House was a house, like many other Minor Houses, under the protection of one of the Higher Houses, the Turtle House being the one under which the Crane House fell under. Though the Crane Head was less than thrilled with that distinction, it had allowed Tien to move up to that house and make a name for himself. The last he heard, the Crane House was still the lowly house it had been when he had been there. He didn't miss it much to be quite frank._

_And how he had risen up in the ranks. He was now the Master at Arms for the Turtle House, a human that weld a powerful sword and could manipulate the magical forces at work in this world effortlessly. Tien would admit that, though as proud of his skills as he was, he would always be second to the Monkey House in sword wielding and the Demon House in magical ability. But he did have the ability to match up with most intermediates and adepts of each house._

_That was the fate of most of the Turtle House. Instead of specializing in one field, they had chosen a balance. Always second to the extremes. But that was alright, most of the Monkey House of warriors and Demon House of mages could barely use the other skill set, with exceptions of course. All he had to do was use his other strength against their weakness and he would be victorious._

_One of those exceptions was Lord Piccolo. He was what someone of the Turtle House could become with the right talent and training. His sword abilities unhindered could give most in the Monkey House problems. His magic, though not as powerful as his father's, was definitely something to be concerned with. On top of that, he used them in sync so well, it was a force in and of himself._

_Yet there was one thing Tien had that the demon didn't: the element of surprise. With his unit carefully balanced to perfection and a tipoff that put them within days of the demon, Tien had pressed his unit as hard as he could in order to arrive at a vantage point to attack him._

_And as if Lady Luck had blessed him, the Demon Lord had appeared with a companion, one he did not recognize. Signaling for his three archers to take aim and only wound the target, the first volley was mostly a success. One arrow had cut the demon's arm and the other embedded in his back. He wasn't sure where the third one went, but it wasn't needed. Next came the blunt arrows to stun him, which this time each one hit as planned._

_Another signal sent his infantry in and they managed to subdue the demon. Oddly enough, his companion had only watched the whole time; he most likely hadn't been in many fights or wasn't a fighter at all. The former option was strengthen when the young man drew his sword and went to aid the demon, being subdued easily._

_That was when the demon became difficult, tossing his men around like toys and frying another. Quick thinking had the man call upon his strongest sealing spell to seal away the demon's magic. Once his other mages added their own spells, they once again had restrained him._

_Once it was all over, Tien had approached the demon, standing right in front of him. "We finally caught up to you Lord Piccolo. You are a hard man to find."_

_Piccolo had stiffed upon hearing his voice. "That's the point of hiding, or did you not know that? Hunted men tend to do that you know."_

_Tien had smirked at that response. "I see your time away has not dimmed your shining personality. Hopefully you will be able to keep it when you arrive at the castle." Turning to look at the demon's friend, he couldn't help but notice how young he was. "And what are you doing with such youthful company, Lord Piccolo?"_

_The demon had chuckled at this. "I was feeling a little hungry and I find young men quite a delicacy. Though since you've rudely interrupted my lunch, would you be kind enough to bring it with us?"_

_Tien scowled. "Your 'lunch' is lucky we stepped in." Looking to his men around the young man, he then ordered "We will be leaving him right there. It will be his lesson for hanging around demons."_

_In hindsight, they should've taken that youth to a nearby village, but he did need to learn that believing a demon did have consequences. Though not as severe as what would've happened to him, this was the best alternative Tien could come up with on short notice. If they ever ran into each other again, the lad could thank him then._

* * *

><p>"I'm telling ya, we're supposed to find a huge scene of death and destruction in Scene 65," Sharpner protested, a fat book with the word "Script" embroidered on it. Feeling quite annoyed that they had lost Erasa again, the blond had pulled the book out of…the same place he keeps his emergency supply of gold and had promptly went looking for their next course of action. So far, Videl didn't believe a word he claimed and was waiting for the exact moment he let his guard down so she could snatch that odd book and burn it.<p>

"And where is this supposed site to be, pray tell?" the princess replied, her eyes focused on the book, even as they walked down the dirt road they assumed those two men used.

"It's close to a fork in the road. In fact, we should be coming up to it," Sharpner said as he looked into the script. "See, we're in the country side with farmland stretching as far as the eye can see and there's a plain of grass over by the horizon."

"And where did you get this 'script' of yours?"

"Huh? You didn't get one? I thought everyone involved in this story got one! You must've misplaced it or something."

Videl snorted, a very unladylike action for those of you caught up with your upper class behavioral studies. "This isn't some stupid story a poet or storyteller goes around with. This is real life. And in real life, I can cause great bodily harm to you and you will not be recovering from it in record time."

Sharpner completely ignored her even more unladylike threat. Instead, he became caught up with a great idea, one that struck him every ten chapters. "Hey, I can go to the very end of this and find out if we have a happy ending! We won't have to worry about any more bad things that happen that way!"

"But shouldn't you wait until the end comes?" Gohan interjected, hovering around Sharpner's shoulder as he too looked at the typed pages of the book. "It's not right for us to spoil the ending so soon and it makes for a much more rewarding experience if we go through the story the whole way before revealing the ending."

"Sidekick, Sidekick, Sidekick; only nerds willingly read every painstaking page instead of just checking the back for the end," Sharpner chided. "And I don't hang around nerds. So unless you are a nerd, I suggest we check the last page and—"

"Holy $%#!" Videl suddenly exclaimed, catching the two young men by surprised. How did she even know that word? Weren't higher class people suppose to be above such language? However, when the two looked in the direction the princess was looking, their mouths dropped in astonishment, their jaws eventually resting on the ground. Just as Sharpner's script had predicted, a scene of death and destruction stood before them. Without them noticing, the sky had turned into a blood red with black clouds hovering in it. The once flat landscape with the exception of a small hill next to the path looked as if a war had been fought there. The ground was torn up, medieval weapons dripping in blood sticking out of the soil like sign posts, though they stood at slanted angles. There was even a small crater in the hillside.

What the hell had happened here?

"Sharpner," Videl eventually said, "I want you to start reading out loud from that script of yours. Start right after the part we find this…place." Though she had spoken, not once did she remove her eyes from the devastation in front of them. Lifting the script to his face, Sharpner began his reading.

"The three find a scene of devastation and stare at it for an undetermined amount of time. Videl then says 'Sharpner, I want you to start reading out loud from that script of yours. Start right after the part we find this…place.' Sharpner then obeys Videl by reading from the script 'The three find a scene of devastation and stare at it for an und—'"

"After that part," the princess growled impatiently.

"Sharpner is interrupted by Videl during the reading. She says 'After that part.' After that, the character Pi-ro-ski groans in pain."

A deep groan suddenly began. Turning their heads, the three saw the large form of Piroshki doing his best impression of a beached whale. His clothes were torn all over and he looked as if he had been through a meat grinder. "The three look to see Pi-ro-ski's body," Sharpner continued reading. "They then turn to look at Ca-ro-ni as he cries out 'Why? Why?'"

At that moment, the three turn their heads in the direction opposite of Piroshki, seeing a still conscious Caroni twitching. Slowly, he raised his head up and weakly cried out "Why? Why?"

This time, all three turned and focused on the script page with bated breath. Who knew what this thing would come up with next? "The three then turn to look at the script in curiosity to see what it would say next." A pause. "Then the three look up and see a very large red spot, a skull with a large mass of hair on it sitting in the middle of it." Slowly, the trio looked up and beheld a very large red spot on the ground with a mass of curly orange hair perched atop a bone white skull at its center.

"I don't think I want to know what happened here," Gohan finally said after they stared at the hair for a bit. "It's too…creepy."

"I don't think I want to—" Sharpner repeated after him, only to stop when Videl tore the script from his hands. "Hey I was reading that!"

"Not anymore you're not!" the princess declared before scanning the page and the one after it. "Okay, Erasa is not here anymore. We are moving on."

"Fine, but can you give me the script back?" the blond asked, holding his hand out to receive it. "That's my copy after all."

Videl looked at the boy's hand before looking at the script, then back. "No, this thing is way too powerful to entrust in your useless hands. We must destroy it before anything else from it comes true. Just look around you! Two men look as if they were tortured to near death and there is a weird skull with hair growing out of it sitting in the middle of blood saturated earth. We have to get rid of it before it does any more damage."

"What? No! We can destroy that without knowing the ending!"

Before Sharpner could react, Videl stared intently at the script and muttered an intelligible word. A moment later the script burst into flames, Videl tossing it over her shoulder and walking forward. Well, to be more precise, around the big red spot of a possible bloody massacre but she was moving on regardless. Gohan followed behind her as well, which left Sharpner to try putting the fire out on the script. "No! No! This can't be happening! I have to know if Videl and that other chick agree to have a threesome with me! I have to knoooooooooooooooow!"

One of the many spears sticking out of the ground grazed the blond's side a moment later, the young man yelping before running off in a random direction. It didn't take a genius to know who threw that spear and considering all the other discarded weapons about, that person would most surely have plenty of chances to try and kill him.

* * *

><p>Tien rubbed his temples with both of his hands, trying to resist the urge to begin a mass overhaul of the village's prison staff. "So let me see if I have this straight. You had one of the most sought after criminals in the region locked up and chained to a wall and she still managed to escape?"<p>

One of the jailers' nodded his head. There were two of them and they looked as if they had made a trip to hell and back. Burns and cuts were on any exposed skin and their clothes had definitely seen better days considering how raggedy they appeared. "That's correct, Sir."

"And how did you say she managed to escape?"

"Well, the prisoner had requested for assistance to be fed and since she was behaving so well, I went in to help her out."

Tien stared at the man. "And it never crossed your mind that she may have been trying to trick you into doing that?"

The man looked ashamed. "Well that's the thing Sir, it wasn't an act. The prisoner was a well behaved person until a certain _someone_ just had to say something that he _shouldn't_ have said," he said before giving the other jailer a very dirty look. In response, that man cringed away.

"Okay, hold up, what are you talking about?" Tien interceded. This story of theirs was not making any sense to the man and he had the distinct feeling that they were leaving something out.

The first guard answered him again. "The prisoner has two personalities, Sir. She can become another person at a certain time. So when I went into the cell, she was the good person. But then this idiot said the word he shouldn't have around her and she became the bad person and attacked me."

Yeah, this guy must have been suffering from some sort of concussion. This was the dumbest thing he had ever heard of and he had heard some pretty wild excuses from the guards at the capital. "And pray tell, what is this word you aren't suppose to say around her?" he said skeptically.

"Thief."

"Thief?"

"That's right, Sir. Thief."

Tien stared at the two, ultimately deciding to go the path of least resistance. "Let's just say I believe you. So now that the 'bad person' is attacking you, what happened next?"

"She then tied us up and released another prisoner. They then did some weird things and the next thing we knew, they had caused an explosion."

At this Tien turned his head and looked at a large hole in the wall, its edges singed black from some sort of combustion. "That explains that," he muttered. Then speaking louder, he asked "And this other prisoner, who was he?"

"Just a troublemaker in these parts. He refused to give us a name so everyone just started calling him Inmate #17," the second guard answered.

"And why did you call him Inmate #17? Was he the seventeenth person you have held in your jail?"

"No, he just had the number printed all over his clothes. Even has a tattoo of it on his arm."

"Well, thank you gentlemen. I'll see to it that these criminals are returned to jail," Tien said as he stood up and began leaving the room. What had started out as a routine transport assignment had ballooned into a fugitive hunt. And he had been looking forward to having an easy trip too. Now, if he were a troublemaker and a notorious thief, where would he be?

An explosion somewhere outside of the village erupted suddenly, sending a large cloud of flames and smoke into the air. Looking in its direction, the three-eyed man had an impassive expression on his face. Well, that answered his question. What ever those two had gotten their hands on that could cause explosions was just like putting up a big sign that said "Here I am, come and get me!" to the three-eyed man. "You men," he called out to a small group of his unit. "Come with me. We're going to investigate that blast." Pointing to a couple men, he then ordered "And you two, go get the others. Some of you stay in the village in case the people responsible for that blast come back and send the others after us."

"Sir!" all of them answered before going about their duties. Looking back at the cloud of smoke, Tien began heading in its direction. It was time to kick some ass.

* * *

><p>I must admit, I stole the script idea from <em>Robin Hood: Men in Tights<em>. I had been watching that movie when I was writing this chapter and the part where Robin Hood, King John, and the Sheriff of Rottingham pull out scripts to check out a scene came up. I just had to put a similar scene like that in this story and I like the way it came out. Also, I had no idea how to get our trio out of Seven Village and onto the path after Erasa again. This helped fill that little hole lol. And no, 65 is not a random number I made up, there really are 64 scenes in the previous 23 chapters. Believe me, I counted...twice...because I lost count around 40. That was a looooot of counting.

To I'm a person: Yeah, angry would be an understatement lol. Especially after finding that field of death and destruction.

To bvprincess23 for Chapter 20: Gentle? Nope. Blonde Launch doesn't know how to hold back lol./Awww, but it's not a bathhouse scene without peeping. It's mandatory nowadays!

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	25. They Ran Into Some More Trouble

_Year 667_

_Videl entered her room, dusting her hands in a vain attempt to clean them. Today had been a long one. Her father had sent in a new shipment of traps and she had been putting them in place all day. Were there anyone that could actually see her, they would've definitely noticed the dirt that covered the bottom of her dress from the knees down. It was a look unbecoming of a princess such as herself, but those traps weren't going to set themselves now._

_Now if only they could keep out that one pesky visitor she always got._

_She wasn't sure why, but this blonde girl had been showing up in her castle, always wanting to talk and do slumber parties. So far, Videl had yet to relent in her stance that she was not going to associate with anyone from outside her stone walls. Unfortunately, the girl had proven most persistent in the matter._

_But now, those new traps should definitely keep her out. Finally, peace and quiet would be hers at—_

"_Hey Videl!" that oh so familiar voice greeted from her doorway._

_Whipping around, Videl resisted the urge to rub her eyes just to make sure she wasn't seeing things. How…why…what was _that_ girl doing here? There was no way she should've been in here! She had made sure of that with all those backbreaking hours!_

_All of her hard work was ruined!_

"_Erasa, can you not read?" the dark-haired girl asked. Before she got a response though, she said "There are signs out there that say for people to stay away. That includes _everyone_ other than _me_."_

_Her venomous tone didn't seem to affect the blonde at all as that same cheerful expression stayed fixed to her face. "Silly Videl, those signs say for people who want to deflower you to stay out. Since I don't want to do that, they don't mean anything to me." With that said, the blonde sat on Videl's bed, lounging on it as if she owned it. "Mmmm, this is so soft," the girl practically moaned._

"_Well it _is_ my bed," Videl muttered, once again her words having letting impact on the blonde, though that was perhaps because she didn't hear them._

"_You know, I would visit more if it wasn't for that dragon of yours," Erasa continued. "I mean, who keeps a dragon for a pet? Honestly." Looking around conspiratorially, she then whispered "I get the feeling he doesn't like me."_

_It looked like Videl was going to be taking real good care of Icarus, along with some extra treats. Perhaps she could persuade the dragon to be her Erasa-repellant. Unfortunately, Videl knew Icarus was too playful for such things. In fact, it was that playfulness that drove Erasa nuts. Either that or it was the fact he was a dragon. She wasn't quite too sure which one it was really._

_But she wasn't going to tell the blonde that. Let her keep thinking her thoughts. "Well, I can't help the way he feels. Besides, he makes a very good guard dragon."_

"_But isn't that a job for a dog? I mean, they're made for that sort of thing."_

"_Can a normal guard dog breathe fire?"_

"_Nooo, duh. Everyone knows they can't."_

_It seemed her point just flew over the girl's head. That was okay though, she hadn't expected the blonde to catch it in the first place. /sigh/ why couldn't she have a normal neighbor? One that minded their own business and kept out of her castle?_

_Was that too much to ask for?_

* * *

><p>With the future predicting script behind them—way, <em>way<em> behind them—the trio had made their way to the next village on their everlasting quest of finding and surgically attaching Erasa to one of them. That blonde had left them in the dust one too many times and it was getting very old. But at least she wasn't too hard to follow; she had this habit of leaving breadcrumbs behind her.

If you could call several people rendered helpless by crossbow bolts breadcrumbs that is.

So now the village the three found themselves followed another of Erasa's scenes of mayhem. For some reason though, the three got the feeling that every village was a very close copy of every village they had been too by now, though this village had a larger building that stood higher than the other buildings near its center. One could almost call it a mansion if it hadn't looked to be abandoned. Yet none of that mattered for a very obvious reason.

"Where in the hell are their stores?" Videl muttered as she marched through the streets with purpose. Oh yes, the princess' everlasting question of finding some clothes less provocative than the ones she had on. At this point, anything would do, even a toga made from a bed sheet that had water thrown on it. And yes, that was a _white_ bed sheet.

Take a moment to enjoy that image.

Following the determined princess were Gohan and Sharpner obviously, strolling as they settled into the familiar routine. Sharpner even had his arms raised, his fingers entwining together and his head resting in his palms. So relaxed was he that he didn't bother stopping as he bumped into something, grunting his displeasure but nothing more.

"Hey nimrod! Watch where you're going!" a voice shouted at him.

Turning to look behind him, the blond found a young peasant boy, dressed in what was best described as a burlap sack with holes cut into it for his arms and head to stick out of. He had a pinkish tint to his skin and a very small crop of spiky white hair on his head. A very peculiar look, but one that made Sharpner sneer.

"You watch where you're going," he shot back lazily. "You're so short, it's no wonder you ran into me."

"What d'ya say?" the boy shouted as he stormed over to Sharpner, the people around looking at the growing altercation. A small distance behind the blond, Gohan had stopped and looked to see what the commotion was, Videl doing the same thing only much further away.

"You heard me Short Round," Sharpner said cockily. "Now run along before I accidently step on you. I wouldn't want to get my boots bloody."

"I'll show you short!" the boy yelled as he threw a fist at Sharpner. For once, the blond wasn't outclassed by his opponent and dodged the fist, slipping around the kid and getting him into a headlock. Struggling, the kid tried his best to get free, trying everything from squirming in his sack-like shirt to kicking his bare legs, the bottom of his shody sandles slapping against the bottom of his feet. Alas, it proved utterly useless as the blond held firm, laughing all the while.

"Don't strain yourself Shorty! It's not everyday you run into a higher being such as myself! You might hurt yourself if you keep going!" was Sharpner's taunt. And it caused the opposite of the young man's warning as the little kid began moving more erratic to throw him off.

"Uhh, Sharpner? You might want to stop that," Gohan warned uneasily. All around them, the villagers had begun gather around the skirmish and none of them looked pleased. It also didn't help that Sharpner kept mentioning a rather sore subject whenever he spoke—all of them being vertically challenged after all. It should also be noted that while many of them had very different appearances than what either the three had encountered in their travels. Skin tones of light pink, purple, yellow, and blue mingled around them, different hairstyles of white hair pointing out the lack of different pigments. It was really becoming unnerving here.

"Why should I?" Sharpner replied, still enjoying himself. "It's my duty as a hero to teach young people a lesson."

"Sharpner, just let the kid go," Videl said, appearing at Gohan's side with an unimpressed look on her face. "This is starting to look silly."

The blond made a show of considering the princess' words before deciding to just brush them off. "What are you worried about? This'll help put some hair on this kid's chest and believe me, with all this baldness on his head, he could use some more hair."

An instant later, all three of them felt their bodies freeze, though not on their own volition. The kid stopped his struggling when he realized what was going on, then calmly slipped his head out of the lock. Moving around Sharpner, he stood in front of him, looking the blond in the eye. Then with a look of spite, the kid kneed the blond in the groin, causing Sharpner to make a pained squeak, his eyes rolling up into his head as tears began leaking out.

"I believe that is quite enough," a smooth, somber voice said. Gohan and Videl moved their eyes to see a short man of light purple skin, spiky white hair styled into a Mohawk, and rich-looking clothes. "We do not tolerate violence in this village," the man continued as his dark eyes took in the three. "Now we shall have to punish you with more violence."

…what?

* * *

><p>"When I get my hands on that little brat, I'm gonna break every bone in his body!" Sharpner declared in a very high-pitched voice. Gohan just sighed at the remark, but didn't say much more than that.<p>

It hadn't been long for the three of them to be ushered into a cage similar to the one Gohan had been in when he first met Sharpner. The only difference was this one was much larger in space and height. Though he regretted the fact that being in a cage didn't affect him as it once would, the young man had waited patiently for what ever was to happen. Unfortunately, though the cage was taller, Gohan couldn't stand in it, opting to just sit down. Sharpner wasn't too far away either as he lied on his side, rolling from one side of his body to another as his hands held his crotch.

Videl was the only one standing at the moment, mostly because she was the only one who could stand straight without so much as bending her head. Her bunny ears bent slightly against the cage ceiling, but other than that, she was a perfect fit for the cage. With her arms crossed over her chest and a large vein pulsing on her forehead, the princess didn't look very pleased at their predicament. "How long are they going to make us wait in here?" the girl grumbled loudly. "They better let us out soon."

Fortunately, Gohan didn't have to come up with some answer that would most likely piss the girl off even more than she was. Some activity amongst the villagers began somewhere behind him, causing the two dark-haired youths to look in that direction—Sharpner was too busy holding himself to care. From what they could see, there were three people heading their way, all of which they couldn't distinguish due to the crowd concealing them. It wasn't until the three stood in front of their prison that they could see them. Off to the left was the man that had captured them, a neutral expression on his face. The man to the right looked almost like him, except he wore a monocle in front of one of his eyes and his head was nearly bald except for curly hair that covered the sides of his head. However, it was the man in the middle and standing in front of them that drew all the attention. He wore identical clothes to the man on the left, had the same skin tone, but looked more as if he had lived since the creation of dirt. A small stock of hair sprouted from the top of his head, which was the only part not covered in wrinkles. "So these are our troublemakers?" the old man stated in a typical elderly voice. "I must say, they do not look like much."

"These are indeed them," the man on the left said. "They were picking on one of the villagers and I had them arrested."

"Is that so? Then I suppose we need to teach them a lesson, do we not?"

"Umm…sirs?" Gohan spoke up, bringing their attention to him. "If I may say a few words, I believe we can—"

"Oh look, it talks," the old man said. "I thought you had frozen them Lord Shin."

"I removed the spell once they were locked in here, Lord Kai," Shin replied.

"Then I suppose we shall hear it out. It is not often outsiders speak with us," the elder man said. Turning back to Gohan, the man said "Speak up and make it brief. I have a court jester I need to throw rotten fruit at."

Gohan nodded his head quickly. "We didn't mean to cause a ruckus. We've been on the road for quite awhile and when my companion here bumped into your citizen, he lost his better senses."

"What senses," Videl muttered.

"Uhh…we apologize for the scuffle and it would be gracious of you to allow us to leave."

The three lords looked at the young man for quite some time. "He doesn't get out much, does he?" Lord Kai said, looking to his fellow lords.

"Milord, your speech," Shin mentioned to him. "You used a peasant contraction."

"So? I'm old! It gets tiring trying to speak in perfect grammar like all of you. For once, I think the peasants actually came up with something useful, so if I want to talk like one, you bloody hell will let me!"

"Yes Lord," Shin replied quickly, bowing his head apologetically. "I did not mean to offend."

"Of course you didn't. Now, back to you," Lord Kai said as he turned back to Gohan. "Why should we let you go when you've wronged one of our citizens? Surely you need to be punished for that trespass."

"But sir—"

The old man frowned. "I am not a 'sir.' I am Lord Kai, head of the Kai House and I deserve to be addressed as a man worthy of my station."

Gohan blinked his eyes. "Kai House? Are you a minor house or something?"

Immediately, Videl hit him on the back of his head, causing him to yelp as he grabbed his head. "You idiot, don't mention that!" she hissed at him, though unfortunately the damage had been done. Lord Kai and his subordinates looked as if they had been insulted, spit upon, and challenged to a duel for their honor after being slapped with a metal glove.

"I'll have you know, the Kai House was the most powerful house in the world!" Lord Kai shouted indignantly. "Why, if it weren't for those upstart houses that made that stupid little Head House of theirs, it would be us at the top!"

Unfortunately, Gohan didn't seem to learn his lesson as he asked another legitimate, yet sore question. "But if you were the head house, then why are you not in control? Did your predecessors do something wrong?"

This time, the Lord Kai's subordinates began glaring at the back of their lord's head as the elderly man cringed. When the old man didn't answer, Shin picked up the slack for him with an annoyed tone in his voice. "He traded away the power away for pictures."

"What sort of pictures?"

"That's none of your business!" Lord Kai shouted, though the people around him began looking at him with less than friendly looks. "It's all in the past and that's where it'll stay!"

Gohan then frowned, despite the increasing amount of pain he was feeling at the back of his head. Every time he had asked a question, Videl would hit him to try to shut him up. Obviously her method wasn't working. "I don't understand. You talk as if you were the one to make the deal, even though that happened centuries ago."

A collective sigh echoed from everyone around the cage. "Every time we have a visitor, they always ask that question," Shin grumbled. "The people of Kai live much longer than the people of other lands," he then answered Gohan, who wasn't smarting from another hit to the head. Apparently, Videl was interested enough in the question not to reprimand him. "So most of us have lived since beyond the time of the Four Higher Houses."

"Of course none of you would know of it," Lord Kai spoke. "It seems those other houses want no knowledge of our existence to get out. Why if it were the good old days, we would have shown them a thing or two about our power!" In support, the crowd began saying similar agreeing statements.

"So why don't you speak out?" Gohan asked again.

"Why else? We don't have enough power! If we did, there is no doubt we cream everyone that stood in our way!"

"So why don't you get more power?"

Everyone paused for a moment, all of them considering the obvious statement. Why hadn't they done that already? "Well, you see…I…"Lord Kai fumbled about. "Ehh, wait, I know! Because we don't have the necessary weapon to help us do so! You see, we have a legend of a powerful sword known as the Zeta Sword. The sword was said to make its wielder invincible, undefeatable even. As far as we know, it lies somewhere out in the mountains you see in the distance." At this, Gohan and Videl looked towards the mountain range the old kai pointed towards. "We've sent countless young men to retrieve it but all of them failed to do so. It is beyond our reach as it were."

As the old kai regaled his tale, Shin looked at the three travelers as brain activity occurred in his head. "If I may be so bold, Lord Kai, why do we not try sending these three for the sword? If they can retrieve it for us, it would surely strengthen us."

Lord Kai looked to him skeptically. "And if they fail?"

"Then they shall be punished. Failure is not an option for them."

"But you've failed—" Gohan started before he was quickly interrupted by the two kais.

"Alright outsiders! We have a deal for you. If you retrieve the Zeta Sword, we will release you from your prison. If not, you shall suffer horrible consequences! Do you accept?" Lord Kai announced loudly, causing the crowd to focus even more on the three prisoners.

Looking at each other—Sharpner included this time—the three shrugged their shoulders and looked at the kais. "Alright, we'll go fetch the sword as long as you keep your word," Videl answered.

Nodding their heads in approval, the one kai lord yet to speak approached the cage and unlocked the door, opening it as its metal hinges squealed shrilly. Gohan climbed out first, assisting Videl as she exited next. However, the cage door was immediately slammed shut before Sharpner could get out, surprising the three.

"Do not take us for fools," the elder kai spoke merrily. "We are very aware that you could just make a run for it once we released you. So consider the holding of your friend as incentive to make sure you succeed in the quest we have given you." As the kai soaked in the shocked expressions on the three's faces, his old eyes soon noticed a very important detail—namely Videl in her very provocative clothing.

Before anyone moved, the old kai was pressing his frail body against the princess' side, one of his arms wrapped around her shoulders. "Wow wee! Baby, where have you been all of my life?" he exclaimed in her ear, much to the astonishment of Gohan and the embarrassment of Shin and the other kai lord. "Tell you what, if you and me meet in private tonight, I'll let you and your tagalongs free by morning! So what do you say?"

"Lord Kai, you are embarrassing us," Shin reprimanded. Unfortunately, his words seem to be useless as the old kai pretended to have hearing trouble. After all, he was old.

"Umm, didn't he notice Videl when she was in the cage?" Gohan asked Shin as he leaned to him.

In response, Shin nodded his head. "He should have, but I guess he did not. I am not sure why that is since he boasts that he has the eyes of an eagle."

"There's a very excellent explanation for this discrepancy," the old kai said from between the two, causing both of them to jump with fright. Since when had he pried himself from Videl's side and appear there? "Now, come closer and I'll tell you," he said in a very low voice. In response, both men leaned closer to him to hear him better. With a small grin, he then bellowed at the top of his lungs "I'M NEARSIGHTED YOU DOLTS!"

In another instant, Lord Kai was back against Videl, his aged hands attempting to caress her body. "Now where were we, my dear? Oh yes, we were talking about our date. So, are we meeting at your place or mine?"

By this point, Videl had several large veins pulsing on her face, her faced contorted into an expression of rage, her eyes closed shut. Casually, she lifted one of her hands and grabbed onto the old lecher's hand and applied pressure—pressure that had the affect of crushing the old man's hand. As Lord Kai began struggling to free himself from the princess' death grip, howling in pain all the while, Videl cocked back her other fist and then slammed it into his wrinkled face. The result was the old kai flying into the nearest building and causing it to collapse on itself, a large cloud of dust and splinters flying high into the air.

"Gohan, we're going," Videl growled as she began stomping her way away from the cage, the crowd splitting apart in front of her.

"I believe it is best that you do as she says," Shin spoke after a few moments. "I would not like to be the one that she takes her anger out on next."

Nodding his head, Gohan gave Shin an apologetic look before hurrying after the princess.

Which just left Sharpner still in the cage and not liking it one bit. "Hey! Don't leave me like this! You have to come back and get me out! Can you hear me? I don't think I can last too long like this! Oh the inhumanity! Someone! FEED ME!"

* * *

><p>For those of you unfamiliar with the manga, the Zeta Sword is the Z Sword, though it is the latter that is used in the anime. I figured Zeta sounded a lot better for a story like this than Z.<p>

To I'm a person: And that went according to the script.

To nameless reviewer: Thanks! And there's still more to come.

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	26. And Were Sent on Another SideQuest

Alright, important announcement folks. Due to me being out of town and without my beloved computer, there will be no update at my usual time. I intend on having a chapter up once I get back, but until then, I'll be very silent. So silent, a deaf person couldn't hear me...wait...

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><p>"Finally!" Videl all but moaned in the dressing room. Finally, <em>finally<em> she had actual clothes she could wear! Not that bunny suit that made men far and wide drool at the sight of her. Now she could feel like she was actually covered by something than feeling the closest thing to naked a woman could get without being naked. Gone was the leotard and fishnets and on went a cotton shirt and leather belt. Tightening the leather vest to fit snuggly on her, Videl felt pleased with this ensemble. Lifting up a bag of other garments, she felt ready to show herself.

Almost giddy, she emerged from the dressing room, the feel of the pink skirt hanging around her legs providing her with the proper cover she desired, falling to her knees and for the sake of mobility had the skirt sides tucked into her belt. Not to fret, black spandex shorts covered her exposed thighs to her satisfaction.

"Alright, I'm ready to go," she announced loudly, getting the attention of Gohan and the shopkeeper. "Gohan, pay the man what we owe. I'll be waiting outside."

Not waiting for a response, Videl headed towards the door, the soft thunks from her knee-high leather boots making a beautiful sound to her ears. It was so much better than those high heels she had been wearing and without the soreness too! What started off as a poor day was suddenly becoming better and better.

And once Gohan joined her outside, they made their way out of what was known as Kai Village, heading towards that mountainous region they had been directed too. A soft breeze blew by them as they walked, causing her hair to rub against her bare shoulders. Enjoying it, a small smile grew on the princess' lips as she couldn't help but notice the lack of fleeing she had to do without the presence of a certain blond around. Everything was just perfect.

"I hope we can finish this quest soon," she heard Gohan speak. "I'm not sure how long Sharpner can last in the cage."

And there went her day. Looking at the young man queerly, Videl had to wonder why the guy wanted to help bust that idiot out; after all, he was the reason why they ended up in prison to begin with. It seemed she was going to have to force some sense into that head of his. "You know Gohan, it is his fault that he's in there."

"Yeah, I guess. But we'll be losing some ground to Erasa by doing this," the dark-haired boy pointed out. That caused Videl to mull the thought over before coming up with a solution that she believed was a win-win for all involved.

"Well, we could always not do this absurd quest." Once she voiced the idea, the princess couldn't help but like the thought of not having Sharpner around to torment her. In fact, it was sounding better and better the more she thought about it. Quickly, she moved ahead of Gohan, stopping right in front of him to confront him with this brilliant idea. "We can just leave him back there and go after Erasa. What do you think? It will be just to the two of us without anyone slowing us down. No more robberies, no more prisons, no more obnoxious talking." Videl paused for a moment. She couldn't help the feeling she was forgetting something that could help her case with this guy. Meh, probably wouldn't help persuade this sidekick any more than her current argument. "Sounds good right?"

While Videl believed she was onto something, she was taken back when she saw the aghast look that appeared on Gohan's face. "But Sharpner's our friend! We have to do this quest to get him out!"

Okay, she hadn't expected that reaction. Perhaps the lack of Sharpner wasn't the way to persuade this guy. "And you think Sharpner would do the same for you if you were the one left in that cage?" she asked him with one of her eyebrows cocked. "I find that a bit hard to believe."

This time a resolved expression covered Gohan's face. "He would. I know he would. That's why we have to do this."

Okay, this was getting absurd. Was this guy dropped on his head as an infant? There was no one that could be _this_ trusting of a guy like Sharpner. At least she didn't think there was. "But the guy's been trouble for us this entire time! We wouldn't have to be doing this quest thing if it wasn't for him! We have an opportunity to make sure he doesn't sidetrack us anymore than we already have been and we should take it!"

Gohan shook his head. "I can't do that Videl."

What was wrong with this guy? What was starting to look like a great day was really going to the crapper for the princess. Clenching her hands into fists, she suddenly shouted "Fine! Be that way!" Spinning on her heels, she stormed away from a dumbfounded Gohan. "The sooner we get this stupid quest over with, the better," she grumbled to herself. It wasn't long after that that she heard Gohan scamper after her, though he kept a small distance between him in case she wanted to take more of her anger out on something. So he had learned a few things while traveling with her. Too bad he hadn't figured out the best way to please her.

* * *

><p>The jailors hadn't been kidding. Tien had a certifiable crazy person on his hands and another guy who had an addiction to blowing things up. Hadn't he mentioned this was supposed to be a routine prisoner transfer? Couldn't these people just cooperate with that order? That wasn't too much to ask for, was it?<p>

As expected, once the three-eyed man and his unit of men reached the area of a recent explosion, they had quickly spotted and subdued the two fugitives they had been pursuing. All in a day's work. Unfortunately, that had been the time where his day had gone so far south, he was damn near what was left of the former Demon Kingdom. And now that headache he had been developing since he arrived in the village was threatening to become a full-blown migraine.

Tien and the prisoners were currently in a clearing, Tien's men going about preparing a camp for the night. Tien didn't want to risk these two escaping again if they spent the night in the village—the incompetent jailers being his biggest reason—so he had made the decision to build a camp about a league away. Two of his men had gone back to the village to recall the unit he had ordered to stay there, along with collecting some supplies for their trip back; they had as of yet to return but that was to be expected. The rest of his men had already raised a few tents and had fires going despite the fact it was late afternoon. Four of those men weren't involved with building the camp though as they were stationed around the two lawbreakers.

The woman and the lad were sitting on the ground, the young man looking as if he were having a blast from all of the attention while the woman looked downright murderous. Tien was sitting in front of the two on the stump of a fallen tree; the tree itself was currently being hacked into firewood the last he had seen of it. Currently, Tien was having a staring contest with them with no winner in sight.

That was until the lad opened his snide mouth. "You must really enjoy your job, Copper. I've never seen another man look so intently at another man."

Tien's first instinct was to ignore the boy, but then thought better of it. It had been a long time since he had lowered himself to his quarry's level, so he figured it was time to have a little fun. "You're right, I do enjoy my job. Especially after I make sure your troublemaking ways are over."

"My 'troublemaking ways' huh? And pray tell, what are those?"

"Being dumb enough to cause an explosion right next to the town you escaped from for one," Tien answered.

"Heh, I was just making sure you could find me was all. I was intentionally making it easier for you to find me," the dark-haired youth replied.

"And I thank you for that. Catching you was easier than finding a pickpocket sharing the same room as you. The only thing you could've done to make it easier is if you had put a sign around your neck claiming to be the man I was after. My eyesight isn't what it used to be after all." Smirking, Tien let his third eye roll around, catching sight of everything around him.

That made the young man lose his cocky attitude. "Perhaps I should have made it harder for you," he growled.

"Would yous put a sock in it?" the woman spoke up, her tone highly irritated. "Yous is too big of a screw-up to do nothin' but get caught again. I knew I'ze shoulda gone on my own."

"Hey, if it weren't for me, we'd still be in lock up, blondie!" the man—17, Tien reminded himself—shouted. "You should be grateful I let you tag along."

"Oh, how could I evah forget? I'm so indebted to yous that I'ze had to follow you around until yous got us caught again."

"I didn't see you coming up with any bright ideas!"

"Shut up, both of you," Tien said, interrupting the two. "I've had enough of your arguing for one day."

"If you've had too much, then why don't you gag us?" 17 shot back.

"Good idea." With a wave of his hand, a gag appeared in 17's mouth, causing him to give out a muffled cry of surprise. Giving a smirk, Tien then exchanged it for a serious expression as he turned to the blonde—Launch he believed was her name. However, she seemed to have a different reaction.

"Yous got to be kiddin' me! Anotha voodoo guy? Why do I'ze keep runnin' into you people?" she exclaimed.

Tien remained stoic. "I could always summon one for you, if you wish Thief."

The next thing Tien knew, he was looking stupefied at a blue-haired woman who sat right where the blonde had been. She even wore the exact same clothes as the blonde. A startled sound came from the guards, along with the muffled 17 as they all stared at the woman's sudden appearance. "Oh my, where am I?" the woman asked, looking around bewildered. "Why am I not in jail?"

Tien's mind began working double time. What the heck had just happened? Who was this new woman and what happened to the other one? This wasn't making any sense to him. It was almost as strange as that outlandish story those jailers had told…

This time, the bald man's eyes narrowed. Hadn't those two jailers mentioned something about a split personality? That the change between the two of them involved saying a certain word around her? He needed to make sure of this. Clearing his throat, he then said again "Thief."

Instantly the blonde was back, along with her bad temper. "Yous better keep your voodoo hands off of me! If yous don't, I'll cut 'em off!"

So the jailers weren't lying. Well this was unexpected. "So you really do have different personalities," Tien commented, stopping the woman's rant in its tracks. "I thought it sounded too far-fetched, but those jailers were telling the truth."

"So what if I'ze do? You gonna make somethin' of it?" the blonde shot back at him.

Ignoring her, Tien looked towards the nearest guard and motioned for him to approach. When he did, the bald man said "I want you to inform all the men to be wary of what they say. Do the same with the men that arrive from the village."

The guard nodded his and saluted. "Yes Sir, what is it that we should avoid saying?"

Tien bowed his head for a moment, mentally preparing him for what was going to happen. "Tell them to avoid saying the word 'thief.'"

At that, the blue-haired Launch appeared, once again looking confused. The guard stared curiously at Launch before looking back to Tien befuddled. "'Thief,' Sir?" Again, the blonde Launch reappeared, just as pissed off as she the previous time.

"Hey! Quit doing that!"

"That's right, 'Thief.'"

"Oh my, what is going on?"

"Yes sir, I'll inform the men not to say 'Thief.'"

"I'm warnin' ya! Quit messin' around!"

"That's right. Now go tell them."

"Yes Sir." Turning to the other three guards, the first guard said to them without lowering his voice "Men, do not say the word 'Thief'—"

"Could someone please tell me why I'm now in the village?"

"—from now on. Understood?"

Simultaneously, all three of them said "Understood, do not say 'Thief.'"

"This is really startin' to get on my nerves!"

"Make sure the others also know not to say 'Thief'—"

"Oh! The sun is starting to set! Isn't it lovely?"

"—as well."

All the while, Tien was rubbing his temples. He just knew this was going to happen. Before nightfall, the Launch woman would've switched personalities a hundred times over he predicted. He really should've thought that last order out more thoroughly.

* * *

><p>They hadn't talked since Gohan had rejected her offer. Videl had seen to it that happened. It was definitely quiet but she hadn't been happy. On the bright side, they had made some good time, reaching the base of the mountain range by evening. With a fire burning and supper settling in their stomachs, Videl had pulled out her blanket, taken off her boots and bodice and laid down to go to sleep, Gohan following her lead soon after. There was just one problem.<p>

Videl just couldn't get to sleep.

It had been annoying at first, but as time dragged on by, she couldn't help how annoyed she was getting. Why the hell wasn't she going to sleep? She didn't have to worry about any advances by Sharpner since he was being detained. That allowed the princess to be sleeping on her own for the first time in quite awhile, especially since she was out of that defenseless bunny costume.

Yet it wasn't the same.

Rolling onto her side, she spied Gohan sleeping off on his own, his blanket rising and lowering in time with his rhythmic breathing. Oh sure, _he_ could get to sleep, but not her. That was just _so_ unfair! She needed her beauty sleep too, damn it! And the longer she stared at the young man, the more she was staring to realize that something was amiss. She didn't feel comfortable. The night air blowing off the mountains was slightly chilly and no matter how much she curled into a little princess ball, she just couldn't quite feel warm. Still staring at Gohan, she was starting to admit that she needed a little extra push to get to dreamland.

At last, she huffed her frustration and sat up, gathering her blanket into her arms. Standing up, she then walked over to Gohan, dropping to the ground next to him. Arranging herself and her blanket like she had so many times before, the princess laid next to her travel companion, feeling the warmth his body gave out.

A few minutes went by before Videl began to feel drowsy. Oh yes, sleep was coming to her, she could almost taste it. It wasn't long after that that the princess became less aware of what was going on, especially the fact that she was scooting closer and closer to her human-sized heater. The only thing she cared about at the moment was sleep.

Blissful sleep.

* * *

><p>"Where is it, where is it?" Lord Kai muttered as he dug around in a large chest. He knew it was in here somewhere, he just had to find it. Oh wait, was this it? Yes, yes, no, that wasn't it. Tossing aside a rather crude-looking contraption, the Kai buried himself further into the chest, the upper part of his body seemingly disappearing into it.<p>

Ever since he had laid eyes on that rather violent girl in the bunny suit, he just couldn't get her out of his mind. A date, one date was all he wanted and by golly that's what he would get! No one said no to a Kai, no one! Except for maybe all the women he had the honor of groping over the years. They usually shouted no at him before beating him into unconsciousness.

"This isn't it. This isn't it, this sure as heck isn't it," he said as he continued to dig. He knew he had it somewhere in here. It was where he tossed all of his various magical objects until he found a use for them. The one he was currently looking for would most certainly help get that lovely girl into his wrinkly, bone-thin arms willingly. One would think no such object could exist, but he knew people. Special people. People that would sell their souls for a slice of bread if they had to.

His hand then bumped into something. Feeling it, he began to believe he had found was he was searching for. Pulling himself out of the chest, he then pulled out the object he found, a magnificent glow radiating from it.

Oh yes, this is what he had been searching for. Now that little girl stood no chance of rejecting him! He would have his date and the all the promises of a happy ending that he sought. Nothing would stop him, nothing! Letting out a cackle of laughter, lightning flashed in the background.

That all came to an end when Lord Shin opened his door and poked his head in. "Is there something wrong, Lord Kai? I thought I heard you cough up one of your lungs again."

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><p>For a better visual of Videl's new outfit, either go to the DQZ fanart folder in my favorites on DA or go to megaminoeien's art gallery. The fanart is <em>DQZ Peasant<em>. I had a little trouble figuring out all of the various pieces of that one, I must admit. The one time it would be a good thing to know what pieces of clothing are actually called lol.

To I'm a person: I suppose I need to make better chapters for you to review on.

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	27. They Came Upon a Mysterious Cave

And I'm back! I appreciate the response from all of you guys while I was gone, so here's the long awaited chapter that I know you want to read.

Oh, and there is some...mature aspects in the story towards the end. Just wanted to give a heads up to people who rather avoid such material, and if you feel as if it went too far, let me know. I don't believe it deserves a Mature rating but the T rating should do just fine—which I think amounts to a PG-13 rating in some circles. And what PG-13 movie doesn't have some questionable content?

* * *

><p><em>Year 663<em>

_The old crone stood before Roshi, an indignant look on her face. She was treating this whole thing as if it was inconveniencing her rather than punishing her. That's the way she had always been, even when they had been children. Unfortunately, no one had been in a position to put her in her place when she caused trouble._

_Until now._

_It was the second year of his reign of the Head House. Gero had given up the throne without trouble just like his many predecessors. It probably helped that an agreement had been reached between the Turtle and Ribbon houses the year before, forming a stronger alliance between the two houses. Gero was very unpopular with the Monkey House for obvious reasons and Roshi had a gut feeling that the old man would put up a fight to make sure retribution would be diverted. So far, everything had been peaceful between the three remaining higher houses._

_Until now._

_Of all the things his sister could have done, she _really_ had pushed the limits of what she could and could not do. Now Roshi had the responsibility to make sure she was punished accordingly. And that was where his problems started. As the Leader of Head House now, he had to be impartial and just in his decisions. No one could be, would be, or should be favored in the judgments he laid down. With the Monkey House watching him especially for signs of weakness or favoritism, the old man was between a rock and a hard place. He had to show he would be impartial—just like Gero was before him despite all the claims speaking otherwise—or he could defend one belonging to his own house._

_As the court waited with bated breath, the guards surrounding his sister standing at attention, Roshi gave a soft sigh. It was time to hand down judgment._

"_Lady Baba, Lady of the Turtle House, do you understand the charges that have been brought against you and before the Head House?"_

_Baba rolled her eyes, again with that annoyed expression on her face. "Yes I do, _brother_," she emphasized. "Let us get this thing over with already. I have a luncheon to get to and the more time I waste here, the less time I have to arrive on time."_

_Soft whispers from the court hummed in the background, though Roshi knew immediately what was being said. It didn't take a sage to know the disdain that was being aimed at his sister and her expressed attitude._

"_Then let it be known that I, Roshi of the Turtle House and Stewart of the Head House, decree that Lady Baba be exiled from these courts."_

_The collective gasps from the court echoed throughout the room. Baba stared at her brother with wide, disbelieving eyes. "Y-y-you…you cannot be serious," the old woman stuttered, her eyes searching for some hint of deceit. It was a full moment later that she murmured softly "He's not joking."_

_Roshi stared at his sister with a serious look. "Although it pains me to exile my own flesh and blood, it has been made abundantly clear that you have violated the law laid out by our forefathers. If—"_

"_You have to be kidding me!" Baba erupted. "There is absolutely _no_ way I should be banished for such a trivial matter! This is…this is…this is a farce! A sham! How dare you do this to your own flesh and blood!"_

_Roshi shut his eyes and allowed Baba's outrage wash over him. Opening them, he then restarted his verdict. "While it may be trivial too you, it is not trivial to the ones who were harmed. Now, the parameters of your exile will be thus: you will be removed from your position in the Head House; your titles stripped from the Turtle House. Your sentence will last beyond the time that I hold stewardship of Head House; my successor and the men that follow him will have the ability to end your exile if they see fit. Guards, remove the offender from the court."_

_Obscenities ricocheted from the throne room's walls as Baba was dragged away, struggling against the iron-fisted grasp of the guards. Once the large doors slid shut, Roshi eyed the audience, taking note the reactions of various prominent members of each house. Seeing the desired reactions he had sought, he then bowed his head, letting out a sigh. Taking a moment, he then straightened out his posture._

"_And now onto more important matters; send in the ladies!"_

* * *

><p>Gohan knew better than to say anything. That was just the way things were when you were dealing with a princess, especially one that had a very volatile temper. He had truly been surprised upon waking up that morning since he had done something to upset her the previous day, though he wasn't quite sure what it was he had done. They had spent most of the day not speaking and it ended with him going to sleep by his lonesome, the first time in quite sometime. Imagine his reaction to wake up and find the princess had not only moved from her chosen isolation, but was cuddled right into him like she had been since they had begun sleeping next to each other. And if that fact wasn't enough, the fact that Videl had been awake and staring at him when he awoke really befuddled him.<p>

He really didn't understand how this had come to be.

After staring at each other for several moments, the two had gotten up, gone about repacking and eating breakfast, and had now set out to continue their quest. Once again, they weren't speaking, but that was alright with Gohan. He had to figure out what was going on with his companion since she just wasn't making any sense to him.

Though one could say that applied to all women.

At least now Videl didn't seem to have an aura of ill will around her like yesterday. In fact, she seemed to be more relaxed as she walked next to him, rather than some distance ahead. Hmm, perhaps he needed to probe further beneath the surface. "Did you sleep well?"

Videl nodded her head. "I did."

Short answer. Crap. He needed more details than the equivalent of yes. Unfortunately, he didn't know how one went about getting those details. Mr. Piccolo had always said that if you wanted an answer to your question, you should just ask the question and not beat around the bush. Too bad Mr. Piccolo had never met Videl to confirm that advice.

"Umm…so I was wondering. I mean, I couldn't help but notice that you were lying next to me this morning," the young man stumbled about. "I was wondering why you were…uhh…lying there."

Videl looked at him with her head slightly turned towards him. "If you are asking why I was sleeping next to you when I did not have to due to…a certain someone, it is because I could not fall asleep and realized I was too use to sleeping next to you."

"Oh. Okay." Well, that answered his question. Huh, perhaps Mr. Piccolo was right about that. It was a shame that Videl was reverting to her proper speech though. As he processed these thoughts, the young man looked up to the sky and couldn't help but frown. He didn't recall seeing that overcast when he woke up. Taking a deep breath, Gohan began to realize what was going on. Apparently these mountains had erratic weather and that weather was starting to turn on them.

"I think we need to find some place to take shelter," he said, causing Videl to look at him curiously.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I think the weather is about to worsen and I don't know what it's like here. It would be best if we found something to hole up while it blows over."

Videl nodded her head in affirmation. "Good idea." Looking around, she then said "I do not see anything that would provide us with any cover. Perhaps we should quicken our pace if we are to find something."

With no better suggestion, the two sped up their pace. As the minutes dragged on, the overcast became darker and darker, causing Gohan to become unsettled. He had traveled in many places that had unpredictable weather and if his experience was telling him anything, it was that they needed to find some place to take cover in and now.

Fortunately, fate decided to smile upon the two dark-haired travelers. They saw it at about the same time, causing them to simultaneous point and say "I see a cave." Looking at each other, a wave of amusement covered their faces. "Why don't you go to the cave," Gohan suggested. "I'll gather some firewood while it's still dry."

Videl nodded her agreement. "Give me the pack. I will carry it while you go about gathering." Seeing no reason to disagree, Gohan handed her the pack and went about gathering wood. In the meantime, the princess made her way to the cave, disappearing beyond its entrance. Though yesterday had been tense, it seemed the two of them were falling into an easy truce. It was only a matter of time until Videl began to speak less properly and they could put what ever disagreement behind them. Gohan couldn't think of anything better at the moment.

* * *

><p>From the moment she had entered the cave, Videl knew there was something unusual about it. Call her paranoid, but she felt as if there was something deep within its depths that beckoned for anyone to come and find it. So like the curious princess that she was, she began to explore it, leaving the pack at the entrance for Gohan. It wouldn't take her very long to figure out if her suspicions were correct and be back at the entrance before Gohan arrived.<p>

Holding her hand in front of her mouth, she murmured a few words into it, a soft light beginning to emanate from it soon after it. The darkness of the cave backed away from the light, going further into the cave as Videl increased the lights intensity. Looking around, Videl didn't see anything out of the ordinary so she proceeded to go further in.

It wasn't long until she found something that confirmed her hunch. Towards the back of the cave was a doorway carved into the cave wall—not exactly something that could have been formed naturally. Stopping next to it, she scanned it for any possible booby traps that would have been left behind and found none. Satisfied, she then passed through the doorway and found herself in a room. Murmuring another word, the light in her hand began to levitate into the air, going high enough to light the entire room efficiently. Looking around, Videl had to say there wasn't much in here, which was quite disappointing. Why would someone carve a room into a cave and not use it for something?

However, her eyes soon caught sight of something, a small stand that rose up to her waist sat on the far side of the room. How she missed sight of it on her first observation, she didn't know and was considering that she must have not been looking as hard as she thought. Approaching it, she soon took notice of a goblet sitting on top of the stand, the light from the light orb reflecting off of its metal surface. Surprisingly enough, there appeared to be water in the goblet, though Videl didn't see anything that could possibly have filled it.

And as she looked it the goblet, the princess couldn't help but feel the urge to take a sip from it. She wasn't sure where that had come from, but the longer she stared at it, the more she wanted to drink from it. Giving a look around, Videl felt there was no reason not to give into her desire and picked the cup up. The first thing that registered in her mind was that the cup had a cool touch to it, the first thing to make sense in this entire room. If this cup had been in this cave for some time, of course it would lack any sort of heat. Taking a deep breath, Videl closed her eyes as she lifted the goblet to her lips, drinking in the water.

Almost immediately, the princess felt something was wrong. She didn't know what it was or what it could be, but it did give her the urge to gag, which she did. Letting go of the cup, it fell to the ground, spilling its contents all over the floor and causing a loud clattering sound to echo throughout the room, mingling with her increasingly hoarse coughs.

* * *

><p>When Gohan didn't see the princess at the cave entrance, he had been curious. When he hadn't seen her after bringing in a few armloads of firewood, he became concerned. After giving a cursory look about the place outside of the cave and not seeing hide nor hair of her, he began to worry. Where the heck was she? She couldn't have gone too far and if the sky was any indication, it was about to start pouring rain at any moment.<p>

Looking into the depths of the cave, Gohan felt that if she could have been anywhere, it was further back into the cave—hopefully. Taking a deep breath, the young man walked into the darkness, keeping one hand on the cave wall to keep himself balanced as he explored. He didn't want to twist his ankle in such a place and now wasn't the time for him to get seriously hurt.

Gohan grew more and more anxious the further into the cave he went. Surely this place wasn't that big or delved into the mountain too far. Or did it? Oh great, now he had to wonder if there was some sort of maze back here and if Videl was lost somewhere in it. What a great way to calm his nerves.

Fortunately, the cave didn't prove to be too big as he found a doorway cut into the cave wall, light pouring out of it. Looking into it, Gohan couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. Videl was in the room, standing straight and with her back towards the doorway. A quick scan told him she didn't appear to be hurt, which was all he needed know. "Videl! There you are! What are you doing back here?" he called out to her. For some odd reason though, she didn't return his greeting.

"Videl? Did you hear me?" he asked, walking into the room and slowly approaching her. Once again, the princess didn't answer him.

"V-Videl? Princess, are you okay?" he stuttered, growing more and more anxious. Was she refusing to talk to him again? What did he do this time?

However, this time the princess responded to him. "…fine," she said, her voice low, almost hypnotic. "In fact…"

The princess slowly turned around and looked at the young man with eyes so smitten, he almost became alarmed. Almost. The way she was looking at him, the way her hair fell framed her face captivated Gohan. Then with a voice full of delight, she said "I've never felt better."

An instant later, a completely different expression covered the girl's face. This one was so full of urgency that she shot at Gohan like an arrow, leaping at him and tackling him to the ground. The next thing he knew, Videl was straddling him, his hands gripping onto her thighs for some unknown reason to him. Yet that reason became lost to him as Videl's lips crashed down on his. So frozen in disbelief was he that he couldn't respond, though that didn't slow Videl down for an instant. She kissed and sucked on his lips like there was no tomorrow and perhaps in her mind there wasn't one. It wasn't until Videl had ended the kiss that Gohan began to come to some of his senses, most of him dazed.

However, his mind quickly unfazed itself upon looking up at the predatory look on Videl's face. Her tongue was licking her lips as she stared down at him, her eyes calculating something that was only known to her, her face heating up as it took on a red tint. Unsettled, Gohan had to look somewhere other than at Videl. It was unnerving him badly.

And it was then that Gohan's eyes fell upon a fallen cup. A small frown covered his face as he stared at it. If he wasn't mistaken, that cup was right about where Videl had been standing when he entered the room. Had the princess drunken something from it? That was the only—

A low growl interrupted his thought process, instinctively making Gohan return his attention back to Videl. Upon seeing her stare again, he couldn't help but notice that it had grown even more predatory over the last few seconds. Glancing at the cup and then back at the girl on top of him, Gohan stuttered "W-what was in that cup?"

"Would you like to know?" Videl purred, lowering her face towards his, which caused Gohan to lean away until his head rested on the ground. Gulping, he nodded his head, which caused a smirk to appear on the princess' face. "I'll show you then."

The next couple of minutes were a blur to Gohan. One moment he had a very bizarre-acting Videl sitting on top of him, the next he found his shirt and pants being stripped from his body and flying into the air. This only left him in only his undergarment and a growing problem.

And that had only been the first minute.

Upon finding out about Gohan's…growth, the princess had gotten even more excited. At least that was the best word he could describe her at the moment, he really had no idea what had gotten into the girl and he wasn't sure he really wanted to know at the point. Then she had proceeded to toss her own clothes across the room as well. Her bodice, her shirt, her skirt, and tights were removed without a second thought by the girl. However, this was where they ran across a slight obstacle.

The chastity belt.

Though Gohan hadn't had much interaction with people of the opposite gender, particularly in his age group, he wasn't completely naïve as to what Videl seemed to want. And it was _terrifying_ him. Well partially—one part was trying to figure out how to handle such an aggressive girl who knew exactly what she was going for and the other was saying to just let her handle everything. However, with that chastity belt clearly in the way, both sides of Gohan were either thanking Kami for the intervention or mourning its presence.

For a few moments, both dark-haired teens stared at the chastity belt, trying to make sense as to what to do now. Videl was the first one to figure out a response as she let out a frustrated cry. For a moment, Gohan thought the princess was about to burst into tears until he saw her grab onto the chastity belt and through sheer force of will, strength, and lust, ripped the belt off lock and all, and tossed it away.

Staring with wide eyes at the display, it wasn't until Videl placed one of her hands underneath his chin and raised his head up to make eye contact with her. "Now, where were we?" she purred.

* * *

><p>Once again, another scene from Ms Videl Son's (megaminoeien) DQZ fanart. It's titled <em>DQZ Unholy Grail Pg 1 - Lineart<em> and goes on for a few pages. Again, I wanted to keep the scene as close to the fanart as possible with a couple changes mostly towards the end. Obviously this story goes a bit further than the comic, but that's what the story is for! Again, if anyone feels this scene went too far, let me know and I'll see if I can make some revisions.

To Mr. Person: There should be a hyphen between Side and Quest, but apparantly ffn doesn't like that. They did that with another chapter of mine in some other story if I remember right.

To I'm a person: I think their bonding time just went up a knotch lol.

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	28. Full of Confusion and Immodesty

Here's a shout out to all you lovely reviewers. Dragon Quest Z has reached the 200 review mark and I and Ms. Videl Son couldn't be more proud of it. Thank you all for making this possible.

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><p><em>Year 662<em>

_The two elderly men sat across from each other, a table in between them that held a bottle of wine, two crystal glasses, and a few finger foods for snacking. It was unusual for these two men to be together like this, mostly because they had never made it a priority to be in the other's presence. That was until Gero had contacted Roshi out of the blue and wished to meet with him. As the head of the Turtle House, Roshi could hardly turn down the request by the Head Stewart._

_Yet since they had done the standard greeting, neither had made the effort to get the meeting underway, instead choosing to snack from the various foods and drain their wine glasses after every pouring. A very awkward way to meet someone, especially when they rarely spoke to one another and one just happened to be anti-social._

_That was until Gero cleared his throat. "I suppose it would be best if we began with the reason for why I have called for you." Roshi nodded his head, allowing his counterpart to choose his words with little pressure. "As you are well aware of, the Monkey House is in a constant state of unrest due to the kidnapping of one of their lords' children. If they were to take over the Head House after me, this would be of little importance, but seeing as they will not, I sense there will be much unrest in the following years."_

_Again, Roshi nodded his head. "And it just so happens that the Turtle House will be inheriting Head House from you."_

"_You are correct. That is why I have called upon you, so that we may organize a smooth transfer of power."_

"_What is wrong with the current way?" At this Roshi picked up his glass and sipped from it. "Surely this is no reason for the process to become complicated, is there?"_

_Gero shook his head in the negative, mimicking Roshi's gesture as he too took a sip from his glass. "That is where I fear you are mistaken. The balance between the Higher Houses has been thrown off with the fall of the Demon House. As much as I was not fond of Lord Piccolo, he was a necessary evil for maintaining the precarious balance between the dominant houses. With his house's exit, there is now a vacuum that needs addressing."_

_Roshi had to admit that Gero had a point. Ever since the Demon House had fallen, the Monkey House had been growing aggressive as of late. While he didn't seen any threat towards his own house, there were others that would feel its pressure. The Ribbon House was such a target, especially after Gero's controversial ruling towards Lord Goku's son. "So how do you suggest we remedy this vacuum?"_

_A twinkle appeared in Gero's eye. "I suggest an alliance between our houses, much like the one our forefathers forged between the four houses."_

"_You wish to make a whole new government between our houses alone?"_

_This time, Gero shook his head. "No, I do not mean that at all. Allow me to rephrase myself. Our houses should ally with each other in the event the Monkey House begins to assume too much power and threatens our houses existence. If one were attacked by the Monkey House, the other would come to its assistance."_

_Roshi nodded his head in understanding. "So you meant the other part of the original agreement. And I assume there will be other benefits to this alliance? Increased trade and such?"_

_Gero gave him a small smile. "That would be very beneficiary to our people, no? I would not be against such arrangements if you so wish."_

"_We shall hammer the details out at a later date." Again, Roshi sipped from his glass, finding it empty. Reaching for the wine bottle, he refilled his glass and once again drank from it. "Though obviously we need a way to seal this pact between our houses."_

_Gero nodded his head. "You are correct once more. And I have already thought of a possible arrangement. There is a young woman in my house that I wish to see betrothed and wedded. However, she has…a few complications that prohibit this. In the interest of killing two birds with one stone, I would like to offer the hand on this woman to one of your Turtle Lords."_

_Roshi had to remove his glasses to make sure he his eyes weren't deceiving him. Looking at his counterpart unhindered, Roshi had to say that Gero was serious about this offer. Very unusual. The Higher Houses had not engaged in such activities in years, leaving such arrangements to the minor houses. "Is there a lord you have in mind?"_

_Again, the small smile. "I believe so. I do not know as much as I would like about him, but the Lord Krillen seems to be a fine candidate. If it is at all possible, I would like to meet with him. As you are well aware of, such commitments between the Higher Houses have not been attempted within our lifetimes as well as our fathers'. In the interest of my lady, I wish to determine if your lord is worthy of such an arrangement."_

_Roshi nodded his head. "Understandable. A meeting can be arranged easily enough. __So, is this everything you wished to speak of?"_

"_I believe so. I am sure if we have other issues, they can and will be brought up at future meetings."_

* * *

><p>It was to the pounding of a splitting headache that Videl woke up to. Oh Kami, that hurt! It hurt! Why was it hurting? She didn't remember hitting her head on something. She had people that could do that for her.<p>

Opening her eyes, Videl soon wished she hadn't as it felt like her eyeballs were burning in their sockets and increasing the intensity of her headache, causing her to shut her eyes quickly. Seriously, what the heck was going on? Never had she felt a headache like this, nor the feeling that the smallest presence of light would blind her. It was madness, all of it madness.

Slowly this time, the princess began opening her eyes again. She made sure to take her time, letting her eyes adjust to the light despite her headache screaming at her to shut them again. Ultimately, she could only get them about half open without feeling like her head would explode, but that would be enough for the time being.

By now she figured out she was lying on the ground, which was cool to the touch. Also, she was lying on her side. Shifting, she moved onto her back and found the source of light that was trying to make her blind, a floating ball of light. Huh, that looked like her favorite illuminating spell if she weren't mistaken. Muttering a word, she found the light dimmed some, which made her headache retreat minutely. Unfortunately, any more dimming would probably put her in full darkness and right now she wanted to figure out where she was and how she got here. Then she could plunge herself into darkness for the next decade.

Running a hand on her face, Videl tried to wake up more, but that ever present headache just wasn't going away anytime soon. Growling, she then rested her hand on her stomach and noticed something peculiar. She wasn't quite sure what it was, but she felt something was off. Looking down, she didn't see anything out of the ordinary. She could see her stomach, breasts, legs, and feet quite plainly, so that wasn't of any…

Wait a second, where the hell was her chastity belt? And her clothes. Those were important too.

Immediately, her arms covered her breasts, her upper body flying up so she could sit. Unfortunately, the sudden movement wasn't kind to her headache and caused her to hiss in pain. Kami damn it, what she wouldn't give to get rid of this retched pounding! Recovering a bit, she then began looking about, catching sight of her clothes and what looked like the remains of her chastity belt. There were a few extra articles of clothing, but she didn't really care about those. She just wanted to get dressed and try to figure out her next move. Moving one of her arms, she then pressed her hand onto the ground to push her up.

However, instead of touching the cold ground as she expected, her palm came into contact with a very warm, very solid body. Immediately, the princess stiffened. After a few moments, she then began slowly turning her head to see who she was touching and didn't know whether to scream in anger or sigh in immense relief upon finding Gohan. As her eyes traveled over him, she couldn't help but notice his state of dress, or to be more precise, the lack thereof.

Quickly, Videl darted her eyes to the clothes spewed about and recognized that indeed it was Gohan's clothes mingling with hers. And that was when another thought crossed her mind. If their clothes were there and they were lying next to each other without them…

Moving her hand from Gohan, Videl ran it up on the inside of one of her thighs. When she moved it up to her face, she saw what appeared to be a smear of dried blood.

Oh no, this did _not_ happen. She had not just done the dirty deed with Gohan. Nuh uh, no way, no how. Yet, in spite of her denial, all the evidence she had before her pointed at that exact conclusion. How did that happen? Why did that happen? What made her even go through with such a thing? Thinking, Videl tried to remember exactly what happened that led up to this situation. Unfortunately, everything was blank. She couldn't remember why she was in this room, how she and Gohan had removed their clothes and how exactly the sex had been. The only thing she could remember was coming into a cave to get out of some impending bad weather and…and…

Hmm…she had entered the cave. Then she had done the illuminating spell; yeah she remembered that part. Then she moved further into the cave and found a weird doorway. And…and…just great, that was all she remembered. Looking over to Gohan, she had a feeling that if there was anyone that could fill in the blank spots, it was him. Swallowing, Videl suddenly felt really thirsty. She could fix that later though, right now she needed answers.

Her first instinct was to pound Gohan's stomach to wake him up, but just looking at his peaceful sleeping face, the princess could feel her resolve for that course of action dry up. Ugh, now she had to do it the gentler way. Reaching out with the same hand that had accidentally touched him earlier, she laid it on his bare shoulder and began nudging it. "Gohan, wake up," she said gently, which startled her a little. Why was she being so nice? And dang it, her thirst was really intruding on her thought process.

A little moan came from Gohan's mouth as he began to awaken, his eyes squeezing shut for a moment before they fluttered open. He seemed dazed for a moment before rising up in a sitting position similar to Videl. However, unlike Videl, he stretched out his arms as he yawned widely, dropping one of his arms shortly after as his other one moved to begin scratching the back of his head. With a droopy expression on his face, he began looking around the room before his eyes fell onto the princess.

It was fascinating to watch his face as Videl witnessed him stare at her nudity, his eyes flashing wide open in realization, then grew quite red from embarrassment. Shifting his eyes away from her as quickly as he could, that was when he found out that he too was just as naked as she was. Immediately, his hands shot out to his groin, covering his manparts.

"So Gohan, can you guess what's going on?" Videl asked in a very patient tone. She watched as the young man looked all over the room, piecing together what she had done minutes earlier. Eventually, he returned his eyes to her, though they weren't exactly looking where she wanted them to look. "Gohan…my eyes are _up_ here."

Snapping his head up, Gohan looked into her eyes. "V-Videl? Did we…did we do…"

"Did we do what you think we did?" she finished for him, receiving a nod in answer. "Yes Gohan, we did. Now, what I want to know is…HOW THE HELL DID IT HAPPEN!"

Ooooh, not a good idea to yell. Her headache started to pound again, causing her to press the palm of one of her hands against her forehead to try and soothe it out of instinct. Still, she wouldn't let that annoyance stop her…yet. "Well? I'm waiting."

Immediately, Gohan searched his memory for what happened earlier. "I remember coming into the cave and not seeing you. I searched the outside area to make sure you weren't doing something there before going further inside. I…I remember finding you in here and you were acting strangely. The next thing I know, you tackled me, stripped our clothes off, and…and…wow…"

Videl blinked her eyes. She had launched them into this mess? There had to be a mistake, there just had to be. She just wasn't that kind of princess. And yet, since he mentioned his side of the story, she did have a fuzzy recollection of sitting on top of an anxious Gohan, and then she felt a little frustration at…at something. And then…oh…wow…

This time, it was Videl's turn to feel her face heat up. Though she still had blank spots, her brain was sending fuzzy flashbacks at her and right now, she had a feeling that she was going to be having many sleepless nights. However, her ears soon alerted her to Gohan, who was still talking and pointing at something. "—standing over there, by that stand thingy and there was a cup lying on the ground."

Wait, a cup? Quickly, Videl looked over to where Gohan was pointing and saw the stand he mentioned. But there wasn't a cup in sight. "What cup are you talking about? I don't see one."

Gohan began looking around the room, trying to find it. "That's weird. I was pretty sure there was one there."

Sighing, Videl buried her face into her hands. This was proving more troublesome with each passing minute. That wasn't even including the fact that she was of a higher class than Gohan.

Videl paused for a moment at that. Oh just terrific. Their social statuses just had to rear their ugly heads to complicate this situation. It was damn near law that a princess couldn't sleep with a commoner, speaking nothing for her father's own rule of complete abstinence. And speaking of which, her father was going to throw a fit about this. After all the trouble he had gone through to keep her secluded and virginal, it all proved pointless once she and Gohan had entered this cave and proceeded to…well, do that. Hopefully at this point her dad hadn't found a man worthy enough to marry her off to. A virgin daughter was always a top bargaining chip in marriage talks after all. Now everything was complicated with this deed. And if her fuzzy memory was anything to go on, the deed had been quite hot and enjoyable. Oh great, now she wasn't even feeling regret towards the actual act. What else could complicate this picture?

That was when Videl's head jolted up as a new thought hit her. Why, oh why did she have to think of that last question? There was always, _always_ something that would make things worse. For instance, what if she became pregnant over this? Daddy would have Gohan's head on a pike by nightfall, and that was assuming Gohan could run very quickly. There was no escape to be honest, but a pair of fast legs could at least guarantee a few hours of life before her father caught up with him and tortured him to death. With those thoughts running through her head, the princess couldn't help but speak out loud "I just hope I don't get pregnant from this."

That caught Gohan's attention instantly. "P-pregnant?"

Videl turned her head to look at the young man. "Yeah, pregnant. It's what happens when a man and woman have sex with each other." Then she narrowed her eyes at him. "And if I do become pregnant, you _are_ taking responsibility for it, _right_?"

Gohan gulped. "Y-yeah…y-eah I will."

Keeping her eyes narrowed, she said "Good." Looking away, Videl refused to wonder if anything else could ruin their day. Know her luck, something inevitably would. And dang it, she was still thirsty! Looking around, her eyes then fell upon a goblet sitting next to her, filled with what appeared to be water. Hey, that would quench her thirst! Finally something was going her way. Picking it up, Videl brought the cup to her lips and drank from it.

And it was about that time that Gohan caught sight of the princess' actions. All it took was one look at the goblet in her hand for him to instantly recognize it for what it was and what it would do. "Videl! Wait!"

Unfortunately, it was too late. Videl didn't know what it was, but she was feeling better, _a lot_ better suddenly. Her eyes became languid, almost seeming to gloss over. A happy smile appeared on her face as her previously blush of embarrassment became a not so embarrassed red. Though relaxed in appearance, the princess' head whipped towards Gohan suddenly, almost as if it were honing onto him. "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere," she slurred, turning herself towards the young man and pressing herself against him. "In fact, we're staying…right…here…"

* * *

><p>To I'm a person: And that pickle isn't quite over either lol<p>

To bvprincess23: That shall be revealed...next chapter lol./Roshi was in a very tough spot thanks to Gero's decision to end the search for Piccolo. What ever it was that Baba did, if he didn't punish her, he would've been viewed as favoring his own people, possibly even being viewed as a weak leader. So he didn't really have any other choice but to punish her. And knowing Baba, it was something so big and terrible that she would've been punished either way, or it was something small yet traumatic that it would have given her jail time in any other society.

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	29. The Next Cave Was the Right One

They had found it, the lost cup of a myth barely anyone knew about. That was due in large part to its more famous cousin, but it still didn't take away from the fact they had discovered something extraordinary. In their possession was the Unholy Grail and its power was beyond mortal comprehension.

Or at least that's what the plaque said.

Once the two dark-haired teens had managed to not drink the contents in the cup—and plunge themselves into another passionate wrestling match—the two had found a plaque hanging on the cave wall behind the stand from which the grail had been sitting on. From what Videl read from it, it named the cup the Unholy Grail, claimed it was from a myth that no one had ever heard about it—which proved that Caroni and Piroshki were right about it—and its powers were absolutely perfect for date rape, whatever the heck that was. Unlike its cousin, the Holy Grail, which could extend everlasting life onto the person who drank from it, the Unholy Grail did just as its namesake implied. It could turn the most devout celibate into a promiscuous slut just by drinking the contents within it. It lowered the inhibitions of a strong-willed person and allowed them to do as they pleased. In other words, what ever liquid was within the confines of the cup was magically transformed into a very potent alcohol and made who ever drank it absolutely shit-faced. Becoming horny seemed to occur depending on the person and so far, Videl seemed to be one of those people.

And that wasn't counting its stalkerish tendencies.

After setting the grail upon its stand—and getting dressed for the first time in awhile—Gohan and Videl had promptly left that room and made their way back to the cave entrance, where their pack was still sitting surprisingly. Feeling a bit hungry, Videl had decided they should at least have a meal before setting out. Once she reached into the pack though, instead of pulling out a loaf of bread or a hunk of cheese or something actually edible, she pulled out the Unholy Grail and suddenly had a bout of thirst. Unlike the three times earlier where Gohan had failed to stop Videl from drinking from the cup—and was promptly tackled and seduced—Gohan managed to wrestle the cup away from Videl and stop that very pleasurable loop from occurring. He needed time to recover after all.

Once they had the food out and managed to eat without the grail interfering, Gohan had then gone back to the grail's resting place, put it back, and then left that cave with Videl in tow. They found a river soon after, a good as any place to restock their water supply. Once again, the Unholy Grail resurfaced, only this time in Gohan's hand after he had pulled a canteen out of the river's depths.

And for some odd reason, he felt really thirsty at that moment.

This time, Videl wrestled the cup away and chucked it somewhere into the river. Again, they quickly left that place and kept travelling until the sun began to set. After setting up camp, they had their third encounter with the grail, only this time it was sitting out in the open with a sign next to it. It said, "**You can't get rid of me.**"

And that was where the two found themselves, staring at the stalker cup and trying to figure out what to do about it. "Why can't it leave us alone?" Videl complained, staring at it from across the fire Gohan had built between them.

"Maybe if we ignore it, it'll go away?" Gohan suggested, causing the princess to turn her head and give him a skeptical look.

"We have been trying to ignore it. It refuses to be ignored; I mean just look at it! It wrote a sign for crying out loud!"

Looking at the sign, the two noticed a change in its message. "**We'll be together forever.**" A shiver went down the teens' spines upon reading it. Truly, this cup did not want to be left alone.

"Then what should we do?" Gohan asked out loud. "If we can't get rid of it, then there's no way we can let our guard down. It'll try to get us to keep drinking out of it no matter what." When Videl didn't answer, Gohan just turned his attention to the fire and stared into its flames. After a few moments, he then said "Should we try to have sex without its prompting? Show that we don't need it for…that?"

Videl was silent for a few moments, a sign that she was seriously considering that option. "I think four times is just plenty for the two of us," she finally answered. "We still don't know what consequences from this will be and I rather not keep pushing our luck on it. Besides, I highly doubt you have enough juice left in you for a fifth time."

Then as if their intuitions were trying to tell them something important, they both looked to the grail again and saw its sign had changed once more. "**If you drink from me, I can give you all the juice you need.**" This time, they looked at the sign incredulously. Was it really that desperate to have someone drink from it? And then the sign changed right in front of their faces. "**One little sip won't hurt. C'mon, give it a try.**"

"What if we found someone else to drink from it?" Gohan suggested. "Maybe then it will leave us alone."

"And who's gonna want to take a stalking grail from us?"

"…someone's stalkerous ex-girlfriend?"

Videl's fist hit the back of Gohan's head, causing him to yelp. "Idiot," she muttered. Sighing, she then said, "I guess we're stuck with the thing. Just throw it in the pack and make sure we don't drink from it. We'll figure out something to do with that thing."

Nodding his sore head, Gohan got up and fetched the grail. Taking it over to the pack, he stuffed it towards the bottom of it, hoping that perhaps it would stay there instead of climbing its wait to the top. Grabbing the blankets, he pulled them out and handed one to Videl. "I suppose it would be a good idea to call it a night," he said as he laid down.

Before he had the chance to put the blanket over him though, Videl had moved to lie down next to him. Puzzled, Gohan looked at the girl and asked "Uhh, Videl? What are you doing?"

The princess returned his look. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going to sleep too."

"But…right next to me?"

A glare appeared on the girl's face. "Is that a problem?"

"No, not at all. It's just—"

Videl interrupted him. "You see, for some reason I have a hard time sleeping except when I'm sleeping next to you. Now unless you don't want me to get my much needed beauty sleep and would much more prefer that I be grouchy all day long, then I suppose we could do that."

Gohan immediately pulled the blanket over them. "G'night Videl. Sleep well."

A smirk appeared on her lips. "That's what I thought."

* * *

><p>It was two days later when they found something out of the ordinary—other than the Unholy Grail of course. It was another cave, one that they were rightfully suspicious of considering their last cave adventure. Yet, they had little choice in exploring it. After all, how many caves had large neon colored signs flickering on and off, loudly proclaiming that this was the location of the Zeta Sword.<p>

It had to be a trap. Who would make the resting place of an invincible sword so obvious? And why would the Kais back in Kai village claim that it was so hard to find, especially after all of their previous failed endeavors? There was no way any of them could've missed this place unless they were blind.

Or maybe all the people the Kais sent were blind.

Regardless, they were gonna have to enter the cave, whether they wanted to or not. Quite frankly, they didn't want to. Yet if this was indeed the location of the Zeta Sword, they had to check it out. Of course, that was where they ran into their first obstacle.

"I'm not going in there," Videl stated, looking into the depths of the cave.

"But…we have to," Gohan said, looking at the smaller girl.

The princess looked to the young man. "'_We_' aren't going into that cave; '_you_' are going into the cave." Before he could protest, she continued speaking. "The last time I went into a cave, I came out of it with a stalking grail and my virginity gone. I don't think I could do any worse but I refuse to find out if that's possible. Now get into that cave before I throw you in there."

Gulping, Gohan looked into the cave and sighed. Putting on a brave face, he began to enter the cave when Videl shouted after him. "Be careful! Don't die in there or I'll really be mad at you!" What confidence she had in him.

Venturing into the bowels of the cave, Gohan found it odd that he didn't need a torch or something to walk in the darkness. For some strange reason, he could see perfectly fine, as if the daylight from outside was traveling with him. Gohan didn't question it though; if the cave wanted to make sure he didn't bumble around in the darkness, he was perfectly happy to let it do its thing.

For the longest time, it felt as if Gohan just walked. There were twists and turns, a couple of forks that forced him to decide on a path, but for the most part there wasn't anything very exciting with the cave. Heck, he hadn't even run into bats and he was pretty sure they lived in such a place.

Suddenly, Gohan stopped in his tracks. He could've sworn the ground he had just stepped on felt squishy. It definitely wasn't as solid as the rest of the rocky ground and in fact, he felt as if his foot could slide around if he wanted it too. Looking down, Gohan couldn't help the grimace that appeared on his face. He just had to begin questioning his luck, didn't he? Just had to push his luck when it was going so well. Of course there were worse things and this could be considered trivial, but he really didn't feel like scraping the bottom of his boots once he left this cave. Looking back up, a resolved expression on his face, Gohan journeyed forward once more.

Eventually, the cave tunnel he was in opened up into a large chamber. Were one to look up, they wouldn't be able to see the ceiling of the cave, not that anyone would be looking at the ceiling. Most attention would be directed at a large rock sitting in the middle of the chamber, the hilt of a sword sticking out of it. Next to the rock laid a leather scabbard, most likely the exact fit of the sword in the stone. In front of the stone was a sign with words engraved into it. "**Thou who seek out the power of the fabled Zeta Sword must prove thyself worthy of its power. Thou must commit thyself to a feat of strength and remove the sword from the stone from whence it rests. May Fortune smile upon thee and we vow to refrain from laughing too hard as thou fails epically.**"

Gohan blinked at the words in front of him. Geez, why did everyone assume he wasn't capable of doing the most menial of tasks? Did they really have to have such low expectations on him? Well, he'd show them! He'd show them all! Rubbing his hands together, Gohan purposefully approached the sword and grabbed onto the hilt, giving an experimental tug on it to get a better idea of how difficult the task would be.

Imagine his surprise when the sword slid out of the rock like a knife through butter. A look of absurdity crossed Gohan's face as he stared at the upside down sword in his hands. Was…was this _really_ the incredible challenge the sign proclaimed it to be? Looking back at the sign to make sure he read it correctly, the words had changed. Instead of the speech it had given earlier, it said, "**Some people get lucky.**" Ha! Sore loser!

Flipping the sword around, Gohan held it in front of him, staring into the finely-crafted steel. A giddy feeling began to grow within the young man. This…this was it! This was the invincible Zeta Sword! And the blade, the blade was beginning to give off a heavenly glow. A wave of incredible warmth traveled down his arms and gathered into his body. Yes, yes, yes! This was amazing! Incredible! He…had…the…POWER!

And what power it was! There was nothing like it, nothing! Looking around, Gohan felt the need to test the power, to relish in its destructive potential. Eyeing the stone when whence he removed it from, Gohan positioned himself in front of it and swung the sword in a high arch. A moment later and the sword edge bit into the solid rock.

And then the sword promptly broke in half, causing Gohan to let out a cry as his eyes bulged out at the broken sword, the hair on his head and the shirt on his back sticking straight up in the air. How, why? What the hell just happened? Bringing what was left of the sword to his face, Gohan stared at the clean break in the sword, panic filling his mind. Immediately, Gohan shot over to the other half of the sword and picked it up, trying to fit the two halves together frantically. "C'mon, c'mon," he said out loud, dread laced in his voice. So occupied with the sword, the young man never noticed the sign changing again, this time saying, "**Fail!**"

That was when things went from horrible to even more horrible. As Gohan clanked the two halves together once more, the metal cracked and then shattered into little pieces, causing another cry-of-dismay-and-bulging-eyes reaction. Oh crap, crap, crap! What the heck was he supposed to do now? The sword was completely gone and he was in so much trouble. He couldn't go back to Kai village now! He…he…he had to hide the evidence! Looking around, once again his eyes fell upon the rock. Quickly, Gohan gathered all of the sword shards that he could and swept them over to the rock. Using the adrenaline that was coursing through his body, he lifted the rock up and slid the shards under it. He then dropped the rock to the ground and took a step back, dusting his hands off despite holding onto the sword hilt still. Well, that was one problem solved. Looking up, his eyes then caught sight of the sign once more. "**You're not fooling anyone,**" it said. What the heck was it with these magically changing signs? Damn it, the author was hanging onto the joke for too long!

But now, he had another problem. What the heck was he going to do now? He had no sword and he couldn't go around telling everyone he broke the invincible sword. He was in so much trouble that he had no idea how he was going to get out of it.

He was gonna have to think of something though.

* * *

><p>Videl sat on a rock at the cave entrance, her back hunched over so her elbows rested against her legs, her hands cupping against her checks. It had been awhile since Gohan had gone into that cave and she was bored. Really, really bored. So bored that she had considered drinking from the grail again just to see what Gohan's reaction would be when he exited the cave. Sighing, she began wondering if the young man was alright.<p>

That was when her ears picked up on something. There was a sound coming from the cave, something that sounded like footsteps and they were getting louder. Standing up, she then looked into the cave and saw Gohan walking at a high pace, a scabbard in his hands with a sword hilt sticking out of it. Had Gohan really found the Zeta Sword? "Hey, is that the swo—" she started to say but was promptly cut off by Gohan.

"Yep, this is it. Let's go. The sooner we get back to the village, the better," he said in a hurried tone. What the? Why the heck was he acting weird? What happened in that cave?

"Gohan, is there something—"

"Everything's fine. Now let's go."

Rude. "Can I at least see the—"

"No!" he shouted, looking at her fearfully. Upon giving him a skeptical look, he elaborated. "The sword…it…uh…its power…yes, its power! It's terrible! We have to give it to the Kai people as quickly as possible."

Videl placed her hands on her hips as she continued to look at him skeptically. "Really? Is there something you're not telling me?"

Gohan looked around them paranoid. Then in a hushed tone, he whispered "I…I think this thing might be a stalker too. It had a sign and everything and no matter where I went, it followed me in that cave."

Oh no. Oh _hell_ no! Was everything in this mountain range a graduate from Stalker University, excelling in Stalkers 101? "Let's get the hell out of here," she said promptly. Without another word, the two took off at a quick pace. Neither one wanted to know what other bizarre objects they would encounter.

* * *

><p>Yes, I did borrow that "I have the power" line from He-man. That was just too good of an opportunity not to lol.<p>

To bvprincess23: Yep, again, and again, and again lol. People don't think very straight when they're hung over/ Two years? Don't you mean two lifetimes lol?/ One word: magic/ That's politics for ya. Just looking at Gero, you would think he would play that game very well.

To I'm a person: Yeah, he probably does. Unfortunately, I don't think he realizes that the people around him are responsible for his troubles. Then again, maybe he's more responsible and assumes it's him rather than them. Such a selfless guy.

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	30. Their Reward Was Magic Shoes

_Year 238_

"_The people of Kai will never lower themselves to your status," Lord Kai proclaimed. "We are the ones in charge here, not you. You can go about and make your silly-nilly world governments, but as long as a Kai is in charge, it will not amount to anything."_

_Before Lord Kai was a congregation of a most unusual sort. A warrior, a monk, an archer, and a demon stood before him, all looking at him as if he had gone senile. Ha, like that would set in for a few more centuries!_

_They had come to him, the ruler of all lands, kingdoms, and houses, and offered to include them in the new hierarchy they were trying to impose; something called the "Head House" ruled by a few "Higher Houses" and all the other, lower houses would have to follow their law. And right now they were offering a place amongst the Higher Houses in this Head House for the Kai House, which Lord Kai found absurd since he was already in charge. Why in the world would he want to give up any semblance of his far reaching power?_

"_But Honorable Kai, why would you not want a part of this?" the monk questioned. "This represents an opportunity to put aside House differences and forge a peace for all peoples across this great kingdom. Surely you are not against peace."_

"_If I wished for peace, I would force it down everyone's throat," Lord Kai replied. "I have lived longer than you could possibly dream, so take my word that peace is as boring as watching cows making fertilizer. A good war here and there livens things up."_

_One of the nearby servants muttered under his breath, "It's his first day on the job, what the hell is he talking about?" Fortunately for Lord Kai, none of the representatives heard that remark. Unfortunately for the servant, Lord Kai heard the remark and made a mental note to have him tortured. They had a new torture technique the torturers were dying to try out. He believed they called it "waterboarding."_

"_Are you sure you do not wish for the Kai House to be included in the Head House?" the archer spoke. "It would be most advantageous if you were to join us."_

"_I am _very_ sure. The people of Kai say no."_

"_Then perhaps we can buy you out of your position," the archer replied, raising one of his hands, two of the fingers extended. With a few quick flicks, the warrior and demon picked up a chest that sat between them, each grabbing a handle on the chest's sides. Approaching the dais, the two stopped before Lord Kai and waited expectantly._

_Meanwhile, Lord Kai was having a small problem in keeping his…amusement under control. "Bwahahahaha! You mean to—hahaha—_bride_ me out—hahaha—of the Kai's position? Bwahahahahahahahaha! You can't possibly be serious!"_

"_Oh, we believe our offering is more than generous," the archer said, a glint in his eye. At that moment, the warrior reached out to the clasp on the chest and flicked it up. He then opened the chest, revealing a golden light which poured out of the box. Stopping his laughter, Lord Kai looked into the box and slowly reached into it. When he retracted his arm, a picture was in his hand._

"_A picture? Is that all that is in there?" he questioned as he looked at the picture. None of the delegates answered him, but they needn't to. These were not ordinary pictures after all; a small trickle of blood leaking from Lord Kai's nose proved that. "And…who is this lovely lady?" he asked in a breathless tone._

"_A lady of renowned beauty, Honorable Kai," the monk said, keeping a stoic expression on his face. "There are plenty more from where that came from."_

_Immediately, Lord Kai threw his other hand into the chest, withdrawing a fist full of pictures just like the one he already held. Unlike the previous one though, these held images of other women, though no less provocative as the first._

"_You cannot be serious!" one of the Kai advisors declared incredulously. "Do you honestly believe that the Kai House would give up its status for a few pictures of licentious women?" One of the pictures suddenly appeared by his feet, causing him to look down at it for several moments before nonchalantly picking it up and stuffing it into his robe. Clearing his throat by coughing, he then carried on. "What do you take this house for? We are above such petty baubles."_

"_Do we have a deal?" the archer inquired, blatantly ignoring the Kai Lord. A few of the servants snorted their disbelief at that. Surely, there was no way anyone would be that stupid to—_

"_Deal!"_

_A collective dropping of jaws sounded about the room as servants and Kais not aware of the booty_—figuratively and literally—_stared at Lord Kai in disbelief. Did they just hear that correctly? No, no it couldn't be. That would be too silly. Only some traveling storyteller with a superiority complex would come up with something that asinine._

"_Just to make sure our agreement is legal, we are going to have to ask you to sign some documents," the monk said as he began pulling out a large book from somewhere within his robes. "Is there a writing utensil that we may borrow?"_

_Lord Kai merely waved his hand at them, instantly summoning a parchment that hovered in front of the archer and monk. Letters began typing themselves out right before their eyes, forming all the right wording and paragraphs to ensure the power transfer. At the bottom, the Kai's signature appeared. The parchment then rolled itself up, the seal of the Kai House sealing the document. A ribbon drifted into view and wrapped around the scroll then drifted into the archer's hands. "Now be away with you," the Kai Lord dismissed, completely focused on the pictures. "It is my special time now."_

"_As you wish," the monk and archer replied before bowing to the Kai, the warrior and demon following suit. The four then left the chamber, leaving in their wake a crowd of Kais completely in shock. As they left, one of the four murmured to the others "I can't believe he took those pictures of hookers for this."_

_Still in shock, the court of Kais could only come to one conclusion. Yes…that had really happened._

"_What the hell are all of you still doing in here? I said it was my special time! Get out!"_

* * *

><p>Gohan had been silent throughout the trip back to the Kai village. He seemed on edge about something, but what ever it was, Videl just couldn't put her finger on it. Ever since he had recovered the Zeta Sword, he had been fidgeting, never letting the sword leave his grasp. Videl half suspected the sword had put some sort of spell on him, one that made him want to cling to the sword as if it were an extension of himself. And the longer they were in close proximity to each other, the more dependent on the sword's presence Gohan would become.<p>

She was just waiting for him to start stroking the sword and murmur "my precious" over and over.

Of course, she had her own problems to worry about. Like the fact that she of higher birth would have had special relations with a peasant. She dreaded the next time she met her father and he found out the dalliance. Her father had a sixth sense for such stuff that usually involved her and a boy within a hundred feet of her. There was no doubt in her mind that her father would know immediately what happened just by looking at her. The future implications of this whole thing would be lasting quite awhile, she could feel it. As of right now though, she felt that she could push that thought away for the time being. There were more pressing matters at hand that could thankfully distract her.

So when the village came into view, Videl couldn't help the flood of relief she felt when Gohan seemed to increase his pace, muttering "Let's get this thing over with." So he wasn't becoming an addict; thank Kami! It was one less problem she had to deal with and she could go fret about something else.

And wouldn't you know it, the whole town seemed to be waiting right where they had left them. Considering all the weird things Videl had encountered on this journey, she didn't put it pass the crowd to wait the entire time they had been gone. It was barely a week since they had been gone, but she really had no clue as to how these Kai people acted.

A low murmuring grew from the crowd once they were spotted, other ruckuses occurring because of it. The Kai people even began opening a path that led back to the cage they had been in a few chapters earlier. Lord Kai, Shin, and the other guy were waiting in front of the cage, their hands behind their backs and looking expectantly at them.

Of course, all the attention would go right to Sharpner as he slammed his body against the cage bars, a look of hope and pleading on his face. "It's about [bleeping] time you got here! Do you have any idea what I've been through?"

"What he's been through," Videl grumbled darkly. He wasn't the one that had woken up four times with a massive hangover and was being stalked by a creepy grail.

However, his claim wasn't without merit. All over his body, he was covered in dried essence of what Videl could only assume was vegetables. She only came to that conclusion because there was the skin of a tomato still hanging on the side of his head, its dried juices making a dripped patter on his skin and hair that matched some of the other stains on him. Apparently the Kais were very into throwing food at their prisoners.

Gohan, on the other hand, was slightly distracted by something else. "Bleeping? What are you talking about? Why did you just say bleeping?"

"It's not bleeping, it's [bleeping]. You have to include the brackets or people think you're just saying a random sound," Sharpner harped. Shaking his head, he then said "I still have so much to teacher you."

"So, do you have the sword?" Lord Kai interrupted with a pleasant tone in his voice. Apparently he didn't want to appear too irritated by off topic tangent the two young men were going on. Gohan immediately walked up to him and held the sword out, sheath and all. The old man stared at the weapon for a few moments before reaching out and taking the sword. There was a look of uncertainty on his face as he eyed it. "I never thought I would actually be able to hold the fabled Zeta Sword, after all the others failed."

Gohan interrupted his musings. "Yep, it's the real thing. Since we got it for ya, could you release our friend? We don't want to keep you from enjoying the sword and all."

"Yes, yes," Lord Kai grumbled as he removed one of his hands from the sword and snapped his fingers. Immediately, the cage door was open and Sharpner dove through its opening, landing on the ground hard. The blond then scrambled over to the dark-haired couple, not stopping until he was hiding behind them.

"You don't want to know the things they did to me," Sharpner moaned as he got onto his feet, his hands grabbing onto Gohan's shoulders and forcing the young man to become a shield between him and the Kais. "They threw fresh vegetables at me and told me I had to eat them, that they were good for me. They didn't even include a steak or roast beef!"

Huh, guess there was just no pleasing some people.

Gohan looked over his shoulder at the blond with a confused look. "But I thought vegetables were good for you."

"What are you, an idiot? No self-respecting man would eat his vegetables! Why, I haven't eaten any since I turned 13, when my mom forced them down my throat!"

A rough cough brought the trio's attention back to the old kai, who didn't seem all too happy not being the center of attention. "I believe everything is in order. You are free to go," he said. "However, as a token of our appreciation, I would like to extend a gift to you, for everything that you have done for us."

Handing the sword to Shin, Lord Kai then walked up to the three, Videl in particular, his hands behind his back. When he stopped in front of her, he then moved his hands back out in front of him, this time holding a pair of bright red shoes. Sparkles seemed to jump from them as the sunlight glistened off of them. "These are very special shoes, made completely out of ruby. Why do you not try them on?"

Videl stared at the shoes warily. This man was a proven lecher and those sorts of people were always up to something. "I think I'll pass," she eventually said.

"Oh, you don't want to do that. You don't want to offend the people of Kai anymore than we already are."

"Just put on the damn shoes, Videl!" Sharpner cried out. This earned him a fist to his face a second later, causing him to collapse to the ground.

"Fine," Videl growled as she took the shoes. Sitting on the ground, she removed her boots and set them aside, she slipped on the ruby slippers until her toes reached the front of the shoes. Shifting and adjusting them on her feet, Videl made sure the shoes were perfectly situated before she tried to get up. However, before she could attempt to, she saw a hand being held out to her. Looking up, she saw Gohan offering it to help her up, causing her to give him a small smile as she took it and pulled herself up. Looking down at the shoes, she began to pace in them a bit, getting a feel for them. Surprisingly enough, they were actually comfortable.

All the while, she never noticed the wicked grin on Lord Kai's face.

"You know, these aren't that bad," she said as she looked down at them. It was then that something weird happened. The shoes began to sparkle more than they usually did, almost seeming to glow. The next thing the princess knew, a bright light erupted from them, enveloping her completely. Videl had no idea what the heck was going on, and she could've sworn she heard cries of surprise, though they were muted. Blinded, she couldn't help but close her eyes and ride out what the heck was happening.

When the light died down, the princess' eyes fluttered open and she began to look around. What she found was a crowd of startled kais, a startled Gohan and Sharpner, and a distinguished-looking older kai. Staring at them all, her pupils began to widen, the corners of her mouth twitching up every few milliseconds.

"Hello!" Videl suddenly chirped merrily, a large smile plastering itself to her face. On instinct, she performed a curtsey, lightly grabbing onto the hem of her new light blue skirt as one of her legs moved behind the other. Bowing lowly, she was oblivious to the sight of many men, Gohan, Sharpner, and Kais alike, dropping their heads down to get an eyeful of her cleavage her tight, low cut white and blue stripped blouse revealed. This promptly led to many Kai-wives hitting their husbands upside their heads in irritation.

Straightening herself out, her two braided pigtails bouncing against her bare shoulders, her head suddenly whipped to aside, causing the braids to fly through the air. Over there, A butterfly! Oooooh, it was so pretty! Skipping, she tried to catch up with the butterfly doing her best to try and catch it as it fluttered around the air. "Don't be afraid Mr. Butterfly!" she said loudly. "I'm not going to hurt you!"

* * *

><p>As everyone stared after her bouncing figure, the large dark blue bow bouncing with her, the old kai's eyes sparkled malevolently. Chuckling, he said "Everything is going exactly as planned."<p>

That immediately caught Gohan's attention. It would've been Sharpner too but he was too distracted by Videl bending over a flower that her butterfly had landed on, talking and giggling to it. "What do you mean by that? Did you plan this?"

"Hmm…oh I wonder what the answer to that could be," Lord Kai replied sarcastically. "Of course I did! Now, I have a pretty girl to hit on so if you would excuse me." Before the young man could respond, the kai had disappeared, reappearing right next to the unsuspecting princess. "Hello, my dear," he said as sweetly as he could. "How about you and I—"

Before he could even finish his sentence, Videl's body shot up, one of her arms swinging out and a picnic basket slamming into the old man's face. Where that basket had come from, no one really knew and didn't really want to know at this point. "I know! I think I've got a butterfly treat for you, Mr. Butterfly!" she announced. Turning, she opened her basket and began rummaging in it, completely oblivious to the criss-crossed indentions on Lord Kai's face from the basket weavings. Stunned for a moment, he then shook his head to compose himself.

"Excuse me my dear, I was hoping to—" he tried again.

"Awwww, I don't think I have any treats for you Mr. Butterfly," Videl pouted, whipping her head back to the little insect as one of her braids flew and hit Lord Kai in the eye, causing him to yelp. Looking at the flower the butterfly sat on, a new idea popped into her head. "You must like flowers! I'll get you more flowers!" Skipping again, she was completely unaware as her ruby-covered feet landed on top of the butterfly, crushing it as she headed to a nearby bush, some flower blooms growing from it.

By this time, Lord Kai had run out of patience by talking to the girl. When all else failed, force was always a good answer. Growling, he then launched himself at his target, flying through the air with his hands held out to grab her.

Unfortunately for him, the girl had bent down, causing the Kai to fly right over her and crash into the bush. Humming to herself, Videl picked a few flowers before skipping away to another bush. A moment later, Lord Kai burst out of the bush screaming, thorns sticking out of various parts of his body. "It hurts, it hurts!" he cried out as he tried to carefully move out of the bush.

By this time, two plus two was suddenly adding up in Gohan's head. There was something about those shoes that was causing this bizarre-acting Videl and Lord Kai had completely intended on that happening. What ever it was, it needed to be stopped at all cost! "Sharpner, I think we need to take those shoes off of the princess," he said to the blond.

Apparently, Sharpner still hadn't figured out why he needed to add the twos together. "Huh? But why?"

"I'm getting a bad feeling from them and for some reason I think that old Kai wants to do something bad to Videl with them."

"What? He wants to harm my princess? Oh heck no, not on my watch!" Sharpner declared. Immediately, the two rushed towards Videl, who had wandered over by Lord Kai as he tried to pull out the thorns on his person. Trying to come to a stop, the two young men ended up sliding into the Kai, pushing him back into the thorn bush and allowing them to stop, turn, and go after the princess. Another scream came from the Kai as more thorns bit into his flesh and clothes.

Closing in on her, Gohan was the first to speak to her. "Hey Videl, can I see those shoes? I just want to check something."

Looking up to the young man, Gohan immediately felt himself falling into her eyes, mostly because there was absolutely nothing in them. A shudder went down his spine; never had he seen someone with such empty, vacate eyes, despite her cheery demeanor. "Hi Mr. Gohan!" she said excitedly. "Sure you can look at my shoes! They're very pretty don't you think?"

"Umm, yeah, they're very pretty," he managed to say before dropping to his knees, staring at her slippers. Taking a moment he then came up with a very viable solution. "Sharpner, I'll hold the princess and you tug these shoes off."

"You got it, Sidekick," Sharpner agreed, flexing his arms. As Gohan stood up, he moved behind Videl and wrapped his arms around her waist, picking her up as he did so. All the while, Videl just looked pleasantly at them, as if she had no care in the world—which was probably the case. Grabbing one of her legs, Sharpner pulled it up and then moved his hands down to take hold of the shoe. Giving a tug, the blond frowned as the shoes stayed in place. Giving another tug, he seemed baffled with the same result. Getting a better grip on the shoes, he began to pull, putting more and more of his strength. At this point, he was getting annoyed. Why weren't these shoes coming off!

"C'mon Sharpner, stop playing around," Gohan said, doing his best to brace against the blond's pulling.

"I'm not!" Sharpner said back. "It's like their stuck or something!"

"That is because they are," a soft voice replied. Pausing, all three turned their heads to look at the voice's source, two baffled and the other cheerfully. Standing a small distance away was the Lord Shin, who didn't seem to be perturbed by the three wrestling with a pair of shoes, nor his own leader being dragged out of a thorn bush crying like a baby Kai.

"Are you saying these shoes are stuck to her feet?" Sharpner asked.

"That is exactly what I am saying. Those shoes have been enchanted, thus they cannot be removed by physical means."

"So magic then? Okay, then use your magic to take them off!"

Lord Shin shook his head in the negative. "That also cannot be done. I am unfamiliar with these shoes and they reek of ancient magic before my time. I fear there is no way of knowing what would occur should I attempt to remove them and trigger an effect that could worsen the situation."

Gohan sagged his shoulders, Videl lowering somewhat as he did so though she paid no attention to it. "So you mean there's no way to take these shoes off."

Lord Shin looked at the shoes, then to Videl's face, who brightened as she gave him a winsome smile, then back to the shoes. "Well…there is one person I believe that may be able to help you." Turning his head, he looked towards the horizon, studying it as if to determine whether he should tell the three or not. After a few moments, he looked back at them resolved. "There is a man called the Wizard of Z who is very familiar with ancient magics.

Videl's head perked up at that. "The Wizard of Z?" she spoke with awe. "Who is that?"

All three men stared at the princess for a moment, trying to figure out if she was sincere in her question. "I've never heard of a wizard of Z," Sharpner eventually said as he and Gohan returned their attention to Shin. "In fact, why does he have a Z at the end of his title? That sounds too cool for a wizard."

"Z is not just some part of a title," Shin said haughtily. "If you ate your vegetables, you would have known this." Sharpner instantly shut his mouth, a shiver run down his spine. "Z is a land that is mentioned in the oldest of texts throughout the land of the Kais. At the end of a traitorous path through the Forest of Light, beyond the Kabito River, there lies the resting place of a great city that had fallen centuries ago, long before many of today's Kai population were born. I am unfamiliar with the specifics but a monument was built there not long after the city's fall, marking that city as the Land of Z. It is there that the wizard resides."

"So how do we get to the Land of Z?" Gohan asked.

Suddenly, musical instruments slowly came to life, playing a foreign tune to the three. The crowd of Kais began to appear around them, skipping and dancing around them. "I shall tell you," Shin said whimsically, a cattish smile on his face before he and many other kais broke into song, gesturing to a nearby path.

"_Follow the very brown road._

_Follow the very brown road._

_Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow the very brown road!_

_There are so many roads that look very brown,_

_But none of those roads are quite this brown._

_Don't look at it too long, or else you'll feel down._

_Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow the very brown road!"_

Throughout this, Gohan and Sharpner stared at the sight of choreographed dancing and singing. So caught up in it, they failed to notice Videl slipping out of their grips and joining the Kais, matching their chorography move for move and singing the lyrics as if she knew them by heart. So stupefied were the two young men, they lost sight of her for only a moment, but in that moment she had slipped behind her two companions and begun skipping up to them. Once she reached them, she hooked her arms around one of their arms each and continued skipping, passing them and causing them to stumble after her until they too could skip with her.

"_We're off to see the Wizard! The Wonderful Wizard of Z!"_

And as the three skipped down the very brown road, the crowd of Kais stood at the start of the path, waving and shouting out good-byes to them. There were many calls of "Good Luck!" and "Be careful!", and even one "Send us a postcard!" called out as they left.

All the while, Lord Kai just laid on the ground halfway out of the bush, dropped by his helpers as they had joined the spontaneous musical. "This day can't possibly get any worse," he muttered.

Famous last words.

* * *

><p>You don't really know how hard it is to write a song until you actually write a song. And I had it easy since I was doing a parody song. I've got more respect to songwriters now. But with that said, I'm pretty sure you all have realized this new story arc has turned into a <em>Wizard of Oz<em> parody lol. Totally Ms. Videl Son's idea. But the song was all me, copyrighted, and now part of my portfolio. So ha!

I had to hunt down the lyrics for _Follow the Yellow Brick Road_, which definitely made things easier. I also used _South Park's Follow the Only Road_, for guidence. Oddly, that was the only Yellow Brick Road song parody I could find—more like remember, but that's just splitting hairs. The red slippers are obviously the ones Dorothy wears throughout the movie and Videl's new dress is also based on Dorothy's. You can check megaminoeien's fanart of it, called _DQZ Wizard of Z_, which can be found in her art gallery or my DA accout favorites, in the folder Dragon Quest Z.

One last thing. The second half of this chapter is actually a second draft. My original draft was crazier than this, much more violent, and...well, different. MVS and I had differing ideas for how the shoes affected its wearer, and like in real life, the girl was right lol. However, I still have the original draft of the chapter and I plan on releasing it as bonus material on DA eventually. Probably when the story ends, but I'll be sure to inform all of you of when it's posted.

To Anonymous Void: You would've done the same thing. Don't deny it. Or else one of my signs will show up and creep you the hell out.

To I'm a person: Yep, but you'll have to ask me some other time. I forgot what it was lol.

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	31. Which Changes its Wearer

"_We're off to see the Wizard!_

_The Wonderful Wizard of Z!_

_We'll travel far, we'll travel long,_

_While we sing this merry song!_

_We'll travel by land, we'll travel by sea_

_And hopefully we get there not while he pees!"_

Sharpner looked to Gohan, a desperate expression on his face. "Make her stop, Sidekick! I can't skip anymore! I think my feet are bleeding! I don't care what you have to do; just make her stop!"

Gohan was of the same mind as the blond. Ever since they had left the Kai Village, it had been nonstop skipping and singing, most of the latter by Videl. And as unfortunate as it was, she didn't appear to be stopping anytime soon. It had to be the doing of those ruby shoes of hers, there was no other explanation. Ever since she had put them on, it was as if she had been granted all the energy she needed to skip while dragging two very exhaustible guys as well as the insatiable urge to sing while doing so. If one listened carefully enough, they would just be able to pick up on the music that was playing in the background.

Somewhere out there, someone was laughing at them.

"_And we'll see, we'll see, we'll see, we'll see, we'll see!_

_Just what sort of a wimp we think he might_—oooooh! Look at the flowers!"

Immediately, the song, background music, and skipping came to a halt. The grip Videl once had on their arms disappeared as she placed her basket on the ground and skipped over to a large bush with several flower blooms emerging from it. Picking one, she held it in front of her nose, allowing her to breathe in its fragrance, causing her to sigh contently. As she smelled her flower, the two young men collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. "Thank you…Kami…in heaven. You really…do…exist," Sharpner wheezed loudly.

"These flowers are so pretty!" Videl praised as she picked another one and smelled. "And they smell so good! I think I want to make a bouquet!" The two watched as the princess picked the flowers at random, building up a bundle of various white, blue, and yellow flowers. "Isn't it pretty?" she then asked them, turning to the young men and holding out her gathering of flowers. She stared at them with wide and pure eyes and a large smile on her face. Sparkles began to glitter around her as well.

For a moment, neither male said a word, not quite sure what they should do. It was Gohan though, who gave her an answer. "They look really pretty, Princess," he said hesitantly. Videl broke out into a fit of giggles as she hugged her bouquet to her chest.

"Alright, tell me if I'm wrong, but are you seeing this?" Sharpner said to Gohan, keeping his voice low so as not to attract the girl's attention. "What the heck is she doing? She's acting all girly and weird."

Gohan just nodded his head. It was true, Videl had been acting like this since they had left the village. There had been a couple other times prior to this stop where the girl would stop and coo over an animal or start a dance routine. Then she would hook her arms around theirs again and force them to skip down the road as she sang that same song. It was almost as if her entire personality had been overcome by some sort of magic, which was probably what was happening.

"Oh, I just love these flowers!" Videl announced to the world, spinning around on her heels. "They make me want…to start…singing…"

Sharpner and Gohan looked at each other in horror. No, they couldn't take it anymore! They couldn't hear any more lyrics of seeing the Wizard of Z or why the Very Brown Road was so brown; and every time she sung about the brown road, they couldn't help but look at it and start to feel down. They couldn't take it anymore!

Yet, Videl surprised them both as she began to sing. It wasn't the happy, cheerful singing she had been doing up to this point. It was more melodic and…well, beautiful for a lack of a better word. The two marveled as Videl began to glide gracefully in front of them, her voice lulling them into a state of awe and fulfillment. Neither knew the princess could sing like this. It was as if she had placed a spell over them, bewitching them with her lovely voice.

And naturally, that was when things started to get weird.

It was slow in the beginning. At first, a few birds swooped down on her, flying circles around her as they began to chirp and sing with the princess. Next came the little bunnies, popping their heads out of the ground before disappearing into their holes. Then they came hopping out, bouncing towards the princess before they sat near her, swaying from side to side in time with the song. Squirrels and chipmunk joined the rabbits in their backup swaying, though they did it either from the trees or on the ground next to the bunnies. Some snakes even joined the sway, their bodies looping around tree branches as their heads hung down and moved from side to side. Then all of the woodland critters joined it, from the large bears and predatory wolves, to the nocturnal raccoons and skunks (all with their latest rabies vaccinations of course), to small rats and field mice. Every animal had come out to join in Videl's hypnotic singing.

And as she came to a finish, eventually standing in one place as she bowed her head, the animals all posed in their cutest, cuddliest facades they could managed. Cheery blossoms began to fall from the trees to complete the sight, despite the fact that none of the trees were cherry blossom trees to begin with. It was still something to behold, something so stunning that nothing could ruin it, not even when a hawk swooped in and snatched one of the baby rabbits from the ground.

Gohan and Sharpner could do only one thing and one thing alone: they began to clap. Slow at first, but then with the ferocity of a crowd at a concert hall. Tears were flowing form their eyes as they made various comments on how beautiful the song was and how lucky they were to witness it. Then finally, Gohan commented "I had no idea you could sing like that Videl!"

"Thank you Mr. Gohan!" she chirped. "It's my special power!"

"Huh? Special power?"

Videl nodded her head enthusiastically. "Uh huh! I have a magical power to control cutey widdle animals! It's so wonderful! Just look at the cute widdle bunnies!" Quickly, she scooped up one of the baby rabbits and started to nuzzle her face into it. "You're so adorable! I think I'll keep you! I'll name you George and I will hug you and pet you and squeeze you and—"

* * *

><p>"What the heck is going on with her?" Sharpner spoke up, ignoring Videl's little bunny chat. "It's like she's a completely different person. She's all girly and loving and passive and obedient and…and…"<p>

The blond stopped talking for a moment, letting those thoughts add up to something in his head. Shifting his eyes from side to side, his brain came up with the answer he sought and a devilish smirk appeared on his face. A plan was forming in his head and he was very willing to put it into action. He just needed to get rid of Gohan for a little bit…

"Hey Sidekick! What's that!" he pointed in a random direction. The young man began looking around trying to figure out what his friend was getting at. Taking that opportunity, Sharpner shoved him into a bush, which incidentally had an incline right behind it. Going through the bush, Gohan ended up rolling down the hill and out of thought. Smirking, Sharpner was now ready to put his plan into action.

Falling to the ground, the blond began gripping one of his thighs. "Ahh! My leg! I'm hurt! Mayday, mayday! Someone help!" he cried out, getting the attention of the princess.

Immediately, she went into help mode and tossed the bunny rabbit up into the air behind her, another hawk swooping in and snatching up the bunny in midair as Videl rushed over to Sharpner. "What's wrong? Where are you hurt? Don't worry, I know healing magic! I can save you so don't die on me!"

Sharpner did his best to hide his growing smirk. "Th-thank you, Princess. I'm so glad you're here to help me. You see…I've been bitten by something terrible; something called a Trouser Snake."

One of Videl's hands shot up to her mouth as she gasped in fright. Shifting her hand to rest on her cheek, she looked at the blonde with wide, innocent eyes. "Oh my!" she said in alarm. "You were bitten by a Trouser Snake? Do you need me to suck the poison out? It must be awful! But don't you worry; I'll do anything to save you, anything!"

Sharpner looked into her eyes and could see the genuine concern radiating from them. Yet he didn't care about that. What he was more interested in was the fact that her eyes practically shouted gullible at him; the innocence and naivety combining to make eyes so empty, so vacant of any intelligence at all, it practically made him drool in anticipation.

Just his kind of girl.

"Yeah, it's awful," Sharpner said. "I can feel the swelling already. You better start sucking the poison out or I don't know how much longer I can last."

Videl nodded her head frantically. "Please, I beg of you, show me where the bite is. We must hurry!" This time, Sharpner couldn't help the smirk that crawled onto his face, not that it mattered if it was hidden. The girl had taken his bait hook, line, sinker, and the entire fishing pole. Lowering his hands, he began to open his pants.

However, instead of the head he was expecting to poke out, something else appeared. It was long, thin, and the green of its skin made it look slimy to the eye. Two large black eyes stared at anything in sight as a forked tongue flicked in and out of its mouth. For a moment, Sharpner and Videl stared at the snake before pandemonium erupted. Letting out a high pitched scream, Sharpner leapt onto his feet and began running around, trying to get the snake out of his pants. "There's a snake in my pants! Oh my Kami, Trouser Snakes do exist! Somebody help me!"

* * *

><p>Videl stared at the frantic blond, head tilted to a side as curious expression covered her face. Didn't everyone know that Trouser Snakes existed? Or was that just the upper class? This whole spectacle was strange to her. Eventually, Mr. Sharpner managed to get rid of the snake, collapsing to the ground and gasping. "I…hate…snakes," he said as he caught his breath.<p>

So that's why Mr. Sharpner was acting so crazy! He was afraid of snakes! It was all making sense to her now! Well, she would just have to cheer him up then and she knew just the way to do it! Putting on a large smile, her sparkles reappearing around her, she hurried over and stopped right in front of him, looking at him with her wide eyes. "Hey Mr. Sharpner, would you like to pet my beaver?"

Mr. Sharpner's head shot up, his own eyes wide. "Your what? Pet your…beaver?" A big smile appeared on his face. "Hell yeah, I want to pet it!"

Overjoyed, Videl bent over and reached her hands underneath her dress. All the while, Mr. Sharpner was rubbing his hands together, mostly likely eager to get his hands on her beaver. Mr. Sharpner must have really liked beavers to do that!

Pulling out her hands, she held a large, furry beaver in her arms, the beaver nibbling on a stick held between its paws. "Here he is, my pet beaver! His name's Woody!" Mr. Sharpner stared at the woodland critter bewilderedly, but Videl was oblivious to it. Shoving it to his face, she said "I think he likes you! It's okay, you can pet him! He won't bite, right Woody?" When Mr. Sharpner didn't reach out to touch him, Videl became worried. Why wasn't he playing with Woody? "What's wrong? Why aren't you touching my Woody?"

Then something clicked in her head. "I know! You must be hungry! Wait here." Quickly, she hurried over to her basket, opening it and putting Woody into it. She then pulled out a metal baking pan, a freshly-made pie sitting in it. "I have a pie you can—"

That was when she heard some bushes rustling, causing her to look away from Mr. Sharpner and towards a crawling Mr. Gohan as he emerged on his hands and knees from the forest thicket and back onto the road, various twigs and leaves poking out of his clothes and hair. Brightening upon seeing him, she completely forgot about Mr. Sharpner and began walking towards the other young man, her sparkles following behind her. "Mr. Gohan!" she called out as she closed in on him, the young man looking up at her. "Do you want some of my pie?"

Mr. Gohan stared at her for a moment, not exactly sure what to say to her before one of his moved to the back of his head, scratching it. Whether it was her sparkles, or her pretty smile, or shining personality, Mr. Gohan said "I…I like pie," which caused the princess to smile even bigger than she already was. Plopping herself down next to the young man, she pulled out a fork from Kami knows where and stuck it into the pie, lifting it up with a glob of pie on it. "Open wide!" she said as she forced the pie-covered fork into his mouth. "Mmmm, isn't that wonderful?" she asked, looking at him expectantly.

What she saw was Mr. Gohan's cheeks bulging out from the large amount of pie in his mouth. Nodding his head, he managed to say "Itz guud," small bits of pie crust sprinkling out of his mouth.

"Be sure to chew it all before you swallow. There's plenty more pie from where that came from!"

* * *

><p>Something in the young man snapped.<p>

"Alright, I can't stand this any longer," Sharpner complained. "This road, it's so brown. I'm not even trying to look at it and it's making me feel down. And how did they even get a road this brown? It's unnatural."

Beside him, Gohan took a quick peak at the road and shook his head. The two of them had managed to avoid another group skip with the Princess soon after being stuffed full of pie—their bulging stomachs were grateful for that. And ever since they had starting moving, she had been skipping out in front of them for the last two leagues. "I don't think you want to know. Some things are better off not knowing."

"You can say that again," the blond grumbled. "Knowing our luck, there's some sort of spell going on that drives you crazy about it." Sharpner paused. "And what's that smell? It smells like someone used one of the bushes to do their business in."

Both young men shifted their sights to the ground for a moment. Simultaneously, they lifted one of their boots up and tilted them to a side, trying to see if there was any residue on the bottoms. Upon not seeing anything unusual, they lowered their feet and started walking again. Yet Sharpner wasn't done with his complaining, not by a long shot. You know, since there were so many things to complain about.

"And can someone tell me why those animals are following us? Are they planning on eating us or something?" The animals that Sharpner meant were of course the woodland critters that Videl had summoned earlier. Like a herd of brainless paparazzi, the animals followed behind the three at a small distance away. None of them, even the two bears, had yet to try and eat one of them, but you never knew. Maybe one of the raccoons or skunks missed out on one of their rabies vaccinations and would bite the bears, giving it rabies and a violent urge to kill everything.

Gohan shrugged his shoulders. "Perhaps they're still under Videl's spell. We don't really know how long the spell lasts." Anymore speculation they could have done ended right after that, however, as Videl decided to intervene.

From behind them.

"Hey guys, did you call me?" she chirped happily. Both men jumped from the sudden appearance, quickly looking ahead of them then back at her. How the heck did she get behind them? Wasn't she suppose to be skipping a mile up the road?

"Oh, umm, not really," Gohan said, looking at her uneasily. Did this girl know how to teleport too? For some reason, he didn't feel too surprised at that thought. "Uhh, how did you get behind us?"

"How else? I walked around you, silly," Videl giggled at him, slapping his shoulder affectionately. "Now why are you two so far behind me? Are you hurt? Did a Trouser Snake bite one of you again?"

What the? A Trouser Snake? Where the heck did she hear that from? As he stared at the happy girl befuddled, his eye spied the crowd of critters stopped a short ways away. Was it just his imagination or did it look like the crowd had gotten larger? Using that as a reason to change the subject, he asked "Umm, we were wondering Videl, why are those animals following us? Shouldn't they have stopped after we ate all of your pies?"

Videl turned her head to look at the animals innocently, then turned back. "Awww, I think they like you," she cooed.

"Wait, they're not under your spell still?" Sharpner spoke up, sounding panicky. In fact, his posture had switched to one that would allow him to start running if need be.

Placing her hand against her check, Videl thought about what the blond said. "Hmm, I don't know. I don't think my song magic lasts that long or maybe it does. I haven't used it in a long while."

Immediately, Sharpner bolted down the road, putting as much distance between him and any murderous animals that would just love to have a Sharpner steak for dinner. Gohan on the other hand, moved closer to Videl. She was the one to put her spell on these animals, so she could put it on them again if need be. That was his thinking anyways and he was sticking with it.

"Mr. Gohan?" Videl spoke up. Looking down, he found the girl with a blush on her face, looking quite embarrassed. That was probably because Gohan was pressed into her, one of his arms wrapped around her waist, but then again, he wasn't quite sure what embarrassed girls these days. "You're quite close to me. Umm…does, does this mean you…like me? Because I don't know if I should like you. I'm not sure if Papa would approve and—"

Gohan only had one thought cross his mind at that point. Oh boy…

* * *

><p>Sharpner was bent over, his hands resting on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. He had run pretty far he felt and this was just as good as any place—except for the one he had just been at—to stop for a rest. He'd let the other two catch up to him in a bit, but those blood-thirsty animals had to stay back. He didn't have enough Woodland Critter Killer Spray up his ass to kill them all.<p>

But, he had more pressing issues at hand, like how he was gonna take advantage of this new Videl. She was just perfect for him—empty in the head, completely gullible, and filled out in all the right places; just like him. And that wasn't the best part, though it was pretty good one. No more would she cause him bodily harm when he turned on his charm; no more would she threaten to reduce him to something less than a man; no more would he have to worry about finding someone to take care of him. He had the perfect girl for the job and all he had to do was keep her that way. And there was only one way to accomplish that goal. He would have to stop her from seeing that Wizard of B or E or what ever the place they were going to was.

His biggest problem was her happy demeanor. She was all over the place, spreading around her cheer and pies and pet beaver. He needed to get her in one spot without any distractions. That meant he had to lose Gohan at some point, which was pretty easy considering all he did was push the guy into a bush.

Smirking, Sharpner could feel his plan coming together, just like a jigsaw puzzle. Unlike all those other puzzles that he failed to put together though, he would put this one together because 1) there were no puzzle pieces he had to worry about and 2) he didn't have a number two to worry about. Truly a perfect situation!

* * *

><p>Like the previous chapter, this one was also rewritten, but unlike that chapter, the whole chapter was uprooted and changed. There are a few scenes that are the same, but the majority is completely different. I still have the first draft and I plan on releasing that as bonus material on DA towards the end of the story, and once again I'll be sure to inform all of you of when that happens.<p>

For once, instead of the story being inspired by the fanart, the fanart is being inspired by the story. And it's all because of the Trouser Snake lol. Check out megaminoeien's _DQZ Mouthful_ and _DQZ Open Wide_ in her DA art gallery or my favorites gallery. There is a third one that the story follows the fanart, but it was totally worth it. That one's called _DQZ A Hot Slice_. Ms. Videl Son really had a field day with this story arc, which I think is probably her most favorite of the entire story.

To Anonymous Void: I guess you can say they are two different stories. Most of the beginning scenes are suppose to give a quick history of what's gone down in this universe and most of those histories deal with serious subject matter. Plus the Old Kai is in this one. He's a funny guy/ Totally meant to use "Teacher" there. I figured he would say something like that.

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	32. Into an Oblivious, Gullible Lass

Alright guys, announcement time. I'm hosting a poll on my profile as to what fic I shall be writing once Dragon Quest Z is done. All the choices are based on my entries for SweetestIrony's GohanVidel Week 5.0 and you can find them on my DA account (I was too lazy to put them up on ffn). What I want to know is which one y'all would prefer me to continue. There are a few that probably will remain as oneshots, but I do intend on continuing at least two of them, and depending on the votes, a couple more. So let me what y'all think.

* * *

><p>Gohan was grumbling, a very rare act indeed. He wasn't one to sulk or whine about his current predicament, but then he rarely found himself in the position he was currently in.<p>

Whether it was the road or Videl's current predicament that were causing him this mental angst, he wasn't sure, but he definitely knew where a source of aggravation was coming from. Somewhere along this trip, Sharpner had decided that instead of helping them get Videl out of her current situation, he wanted to be a hindrance, an obstacle, just something that would prevent them from getting to this all-powerful—all wonderful according to Videl—wizard. For instance…

"Hey guys, I think we need to take a break. Isn't it lunch time already?"

"But we just had lunch," Gohan replied, trying to keep his annoyance down. "In fact, we've stopped two times to have lunch and I'm pretty sure we shouldn't be wasting all of our supplies within a two hour period."

"Oh Gohan, lighten up," Videl spoke cheerily, appearing next to him as she leaned into his body. She had been doing similar actions ever since she made her speech about the protocols she had to go through in order to "like" another person. Apparently he met all of the qualifications, which he was pretty sure involved some sort of secret vote from her traveling band of animal friends. "Taking a break isn't going to hurt anything. If Mr. Sharpner says we need to take a break, then we should take a break."

"See, the princess wants to take a break," Sharpner added eagerly. "So hold your horses and let's sit down! We have all the time in the world after all!"

Gohan looked at the blond suspiciously. "But we have to catch up with Erasa and the more time we spend on this side-trip, the further away she gets."

"That's right!" Videl exclaimed. Facing Sharpner now, she practically begged "Please Mr. Sharpner, can we keep moving for just a little longer? We can take a break in a little while, but we need to get to"—cue background music—"_The Wonderful Wizard of Z! We're off to see the Wiz—_"

"Alright! _Alright_! Just stop singing!" Sharpner shouted , waving his hands in front of him, causing Videl to stop mid-song, the background music dying a sudden screeching death. It seemed every chance the princess had to jump into song, she took it without worry. It was already at the point that anything the two young men could do to stop her, they would. It wasn't that she was a bad singer or anything—in fact the previous chapter showed she had quite the set of lungs and vocal cords on her person—but hearing the same song over and over and over and over again was just another step to insanity for them.

Smiling and sparkling, Videl took a couple more steps to the blond and patted him on the cheek. Turning, she began skipping ahead again, sparkles and all, causing Gohan to sigh. That was just another sign that the Videl he knew was slowly slipping away. It had been a few hours since he had heard the familiar, more demanding side of the girl. He never thought he would think this, but he was starting to miss that spitfire the princess usually was. At the moment, he would give anything to hear her call him a moron or threaten to take away Sharpner's manhood…repeatedly. All the more reason they needed to get to this wizard and request his assistance.

"Hey guys, it's getting late! Perhaps we should make camp for the night!" Sharpner then suggested.

Frowning, Gohan looked up to the sky and couldn't help but sweatdrop. The sun was right in the middle of the sky, marking midday. There was plenty of daylight left for them to use.

"But Mr. Sharpner, it's still light out!" Videl called from her place further ahead. "Shouldn't we still keep moving?"

"Of course not! Don't you know? Nightfall comes quick in this place and we wouldn't want to get lost out in the dark, right? So we should make camp and wait for the morning!"

"Sharpner," Gohan said in a frustrated tone. "Can we just keep moving? We've got too much daylight to just sit around and not do anything constructive with it. If you don't want to go see this wizard guy, you can go back to the Kai Village. We'll pick you up once we're done."

Almost immediately, Sharpner's posture straightened out. "Never mind! We should keep going! Put as much distance between those vegetable-loving freaks as possible! What are you waiting for? GET MOVING!"

Gohan didn't have to stare or blink in amazement. Sad to say, he was getting used to Sharpner's behavior and he wasn't quite sure that was a good thing. In fact, if Mr. Piccolo was around, he probably would've done away with the blond at some point. Perhaps he needed to follow the green man's example…

* * *

><p>And as the sun worked its way through the sky, the trio eventually came to an actual obstacle, one that came in the form of an old, rickety bridge. Just looking at it gave the impression the bridge would fall apart—or possibly a fistful of splinters—if a person stared at it long enough. Swaying slightly as a breeze blew by, the three heard creaks and groans coming from the ancient creation. Carefully looking over the edge, a raging river rushed beneath it—the Kabito River if memory served correctly. Looks upstream and down revealed no other possible crossing point other than this one. All of this, of course, gave Sharpner another opportunity for delay.<p>

"Well, this thing looks unstable. I think we should turn around and forget about this whole thing," he said, much to Gohan's exasperation. "That thing looks as if it'll break at any moment and we'd be surely swept to places unknown if we fell into that river."

However, it was Videl who burst the blond's bubble. Innocently, she said "But we have to cross this bridge. How else will we reach the other side?"

"Princess, just look at it. I bet that the bridge will fall apart if we just barely set foot on it." To prove his point, Sharpner walked to the bridge and placed his foot on the first wooden plank. Checking to make sure that all attention was on him—as it should always be—he then began putting his weight onto the plank, expecting the hear the tell-tell sound of wood cracking.

It never happened.

Frowning, Sharpner began leaning completely on the plank, ultimately standing on it, always on guard to jump should it snap. "What's going on?" he muttered. Looking back and seeing the expectant looks on the two dark-haired companions, he gave a cheeky smile before he looked back at the plank, a look of rage appearing on his face, and began jumping up and down, trying to break the wooden plank. With a loud stomp between words, he shouted "Come…on…you…piece…of…crap…bridge! Break!" Eventually he came to a stop, sweating and panting as he stood off the bridge, bowed over as he tried to catch him breath.

Straightening up as he wiped one of his forearms across his forehead, he then proclaimed "So it's sturdier than I thought. We still shouldn't chance it though."

"But we have to!" Videl exclaimed. With an enduring look, her hands clasped together in front of her—inadvertently increasing the amount of cleavage she was showing—as her sparkles sparkled brighter than ever, she begged "Please can we cross the bridge, Mr. Sharpner? Pretty please? Do it for me?"

Sharpner wilted from the act like a flower dying from overexposure to light. "Oh…alright," he grumbled before turning back to the bridge. Setting foot on the unexpected sturdy plank, he then stepped onto the next one.

Only to then witness the plank snapping into pieces, causing Sharpner to fall through, only barely grabbing onto the first plank. "Help me! You have to save me!" he cried as he dangled about the rushing torrents of water. Immediately, Gohan was at the bridge, grabbing hold on the blond's arms as he tried to pull him up.

In a strained voice, Gohan cried out "Sharpner! You need to pull up! I can't get you up without you helping!"

"I can't pull up! You just have to save me! Now save me, damn it, save me!"

"You're too heavy to pull up without help!"

"I can't do anything; you just have to save me!"

"Sharpner, you—!"

"Just save me!"

Somehow, someway, Gohan managed to drag Sharpner's thrashing, useless self off the bridge. As the blond crawled as far as he could away from the bridge, kissing the dirt where he ended up, the dark-haired young man just laid near the bridge, panting heavily. Damn that guy was heavy. He…he needed to rest a little. Yeah, that was all he—

And naturally he wouldn't get the rest he wanted, especially as Videl leapt onto him, knocking the air out of his lungs, and began hugging him fiercely. "Oh Mr. Gohan! That was so brave of you!" she exclaimed. "I was so afraid, but you, you saved Mr. Sharpner's life! Thank you so much! Is there anyway I can repay you?"

Gohan looked down at the girl warily as he tried to catch his breath again, one of his eyes shut while the other was half-lidded. That proved to be a very effective defense against her vacant eyes, sparkles, and a very advantageous view of her bosom. "Umm, you don't have to repay me," he said.

"But I do! That's what damsels do for heroes! I would know!" The next thing Gohan knew, Videl drew herself up his prone body and kissed his cheek soundly. "There! Is that acceptable for my hero?"

"Hey! I'm the hero here!" Sharpner shouted. "He's just the sidekick! I should be the one getting the kiss!"

Videl…ignored him completely as she buried her head in Gohan's chest. Sorta like an ostrich burying its head in sand. "My hero," she sighed, a dreamy expression on her face.

"Damn it! Quit cuddling with the sidekick!"

Gohan did his best to ignore Sharpner, mostly because the guy was annoying him a lot more lately. But he was starting to feel uncomfortable with this new Videl and her sudden glorification of him. Plus they had who knows how long to get to the Land of Z and time was running out. He wasn't sure if the changes occurring would be permanent but he wanted to make sure they weren't. "Umm, I think it's time we got moving again," he said as he tried to move her off him.

"Okey-dokey!" the princess chirped as she jumped off of him. Sighing for the umpteenth time that day, Gohan pushed himself off his feet and began dusting himself off. Unfortunately, that task would be interrupted when Sharpner shoved his face in front of the dark-haired youth.

"What do you think you're doing?" the blond hissed at him. "Are you forgetting that she's my princess, my damsel-in-distress? That was our agreement when I busted you out of the cage, remember?"

Gohan blinked at him. "Umm, I don't remember that part. I do remember telling you that I needed a princess to rescue my friend and you agreed to help."

Sharpner blinked. "Oh…well…still, _I'm_ the hero here. _I'm_ the one that she should be falling in love with and all that mumbo-jumbo. Now quit stealing all the attention!"

Gohan turned his head so he could roll his eyes in exasperation. He was really starting to wonder why he wanted to save Sharpner from the Kai Village. After all, Videl had wanted to ditch him and even said she rather travel with him alone. Goes to show where he needed to put his loyalties. Perhaps they could leave the blond behind after this shoe mess was taken care of. Of course he'd need to talk to Videl and—

"Yoohoo!" Videl called to them, getting their attention. "What are you two waiting for? Cross the bridge! Time's awastin'!"

The two blinked their eyes. Sometime during Sharpner's rant, the princess had crossed the bridge and had done so without their knowledge. The same for her furry entourage as they stood behind her, all waving a paw, wing, or some other form of body part. For a moment, Gohan felt worry over such a reckless act, especially after Sharpner had fallen through. But seeing her safe on the other bank, he couldn't help the relief he felt. Now there was no way Sharpner could stop them from crossing any longer; a blessing from Kami if he ever saw one.

And then Sharpner jumped on Gohan's back, his arms clutching tightly on the young man. "I ain't crossing that bridge by myself!" he declared in a panicked tone. "Carry me Sidekick! I don't want to fall again!"

Oh damn it all.

* * *

><p>Gohan was lying on the ground passed out. He hadn't lasted much longer after crossing the bridge, which was a very unexpected bonus. Nightfall had fallen several hours ago and Sharpner was humming with anticipation. Now that glory-hog couldn't occupy all of the new and improved princess' attention, especially while he was asleep. The only thing that hadn't gone his way was Videl's insistence on making him comfortable before she too fell asleep.<p>

Right. Next. To. Him.

But that was alright. Let the guy have that one last moment of attention; all the rest of the princess' would be his from now on. He just needed for one thing to happen. Namely that the princess wake up before Gohan. And just to make sure he caught her waking up, he had woken up a couple hours earlier and kept a vigil on the two.

And eventually his patience paid off. Hearing some movement, he focused on the princess and saw her shifting around. Now was as good of a time as any. Moving to Videl's side, he placed a hand on her shoulder and began shaking her. "Hey, wake up," he said in a hushed whisper.

"Huh? Wha?" Videl said as she woke up, looking around dazed. Sitting up, she began rubbing the sleep from her eyes before she asked "Mr. Sharpner? Is it morning already?"

"Just about," Sharpner said. "Listen, we need more supplies and I think there's a village nearby. I think if I leave now, I can get the supplies and return just before we leave, but I have small problem: I need help carrying everything we need, so will you go with me?"

Videl nodded her head enthusiastically. "Yes, alright!" However, she frowned then. "But what about Mr. Gohan? We can't just leave him alone."

"Don't worry about that, we won't be gone that long. Your animal friends can keep him company while we're gone. In fact, I think we can get to the village and back before he even wakes up. He was really tired after yesterday and he'll be so happy to see everything we did while he was asleep, don't ya think?"

Videl thought about this until she began nodding her head again. "Alright, let's go!"

Sharpner smirked. Bingo.

"Oh wait, what if Mr. Gohan wakes up before we get back? Perhaps we should leave a note for him if he does."

Sharpner had to repress a growl. This really shouldn't be taking so long. "Alright, fine," he said as he went to the fire pit, the fire long dead. Spotting a large, flat rock, he moved it to the pit and sat in front of it. Grabbing a half-burned stick, he began scribbling a few words on the rock's surface, the black markings from the burnt end doing a good enough job for Sharpner's approval. "There, all done," he said as he tossed the stick back into the pit. "Let's go."

The princess gave him a winning smile before skipping off down the path. The smirk returned to Sharpner's face as he began to follow her. It was time for some alone time with the Sharpenator; no girl had ever resisted his charm yet! After all, he had all the time and all of her attention at his beck and call now.

The only thing that would have made this moment even greater would have been an evil laugh echoing across the land, but no, Sharpner would not do that. Heroes did not laugh evilly. So instead, he began to laugh gloriously, just like a hero should.

"HAHahahahahaha—cough—hack—cough—cough—cough!"

* * *

><p><em>South Park<em> is really starting to influence me on these last two chapters. I had watched the episode where Al Gore had caused a cave-in and trapped the boys in a cave, where Cartman found buried treasure. After stuffing himself of the treasure, Cartman became utterly useless as they tried to find a way out of the cave system, only having enough energy to say "I can't do anything, you just have to save me!" or some variation of. That's where I got the inspiration for Sharpner's bridge scene , the part where he's dangling off of it anyways. It came out well, if I don't say so myself.

To I'm a person: Well, just one Kai lol. The Old Kai is quite easy once you know his weakness/ More like Sharpner's trying and Gohan's stumbling into it lol. And as we all know, the hero always gets the girl.

To Anonymous Void: Pfft, weathermen. When have they ever predicted something right?

To duh: But then there wouldn't be a story.

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	33. Ready to be Taken Advantage of

_Year 660_

_It had been two months since he had stood at the cliff's edge. Two months since he held the child over it. Two months since he pulled the child back and kept it at his side. It made no sense to him why he would do such a thing. The objective, though accomplished, was a failure. His house was nothing more than a memory; the chances of its successful resurrection a dead hope. There was no home to be had nor go to. He was a vagabond with a nearly five year old child at his side._

_Where had fate gone against him?_

_So now what did he do? As feared and terrible as he could be, Piccolo knew he couldn't kill the child. Just looking at it sleeping right now told him he couldn't do it. He had already tried and something in him stopped the act. Yet he did not want to keep the child with him. The burden of raising one, especially since he had become the kingdom's number one most wanted person, was out of the question. He had to be on his guard at all times, without reason to hesitate when he would be inevitably spotted and attacked. He couldn't very well do that with an ankle-bitter hanging onto his legs._

_So what did that leave? Abandonment? Sure, he could leave the little guy behind, in fact that option was growing incredibly attractive the more he thought about it, but again he faced the same dilemma as he had at the cliff: he just couldn't go through with it. What would his father say about him holding onto a child, someone else's brat?_

_If he had a house, he was probably dishonoring it with every moment he lingered with this whelp._

_But that was the thing, there was no house and thus no house to dishonor. And yes, he was fully intent on mentioning that fact over and over because it bears mentioning. You try losing your home and try not whine…_talking_ about it. Ugh, why did he feel like he needed to defend himself in his thoughts?_

_Looking to the child as it gave a small snore, he growled. That whelp was responsible for this change in him; it was all its fault. He was a proud Demon Lord and should have no qualms with eliminating such useless scraps of life. Barely a year had gone by since the kidnapping and already he felt himself going soft._

_And yet, he had no room for error and being soft was an incredible weakness to have. He needed to right himself, strengthen his resolve, and become the Demon Lord he was and will always be. Then he could handle what ever was thrown his way, alone and without hesitation. They would be looking for him constantly, just waiting to corner him and finish this sad story off…_

_Wait a minute. The men hunting him _wanted_ him to be _alone_. By himself, they could easily locate him. By himself, they could herd him into a trap and capture him like a bird in a cage. They would be expecting him to be on his own, without a companion. So logically, in order to ensure he survived longer than his pursuers wished, he would have to be in the company of another. Already, most of the kingdom would take one look at him and probably cower in fear. That did not make for a good cover. In fact, there was only one person that seemed to not cower before him, like someone with half a brain would._

_That pesky little child._

_No matter what he did, the child tried to befriend him. _Befriend_ him. What kind of damage had been done to this child for it to want to be a friend of his, the man that had forcefully taken him? And yet it was this innocence, this unconditioned trust the child seemed to have towards him that gnawed at the walls he had surrounded himself with. Everyday, he felt himself lowering his guard against this child, even as his own upbringing screamed that he stop._

_Despite all of this though, this child would do just nicely for keeping him alive. Humph, what irony._

* * *

><p>Sharpner kept looking over his shoulder despite the fact he knew that Gohan was an afterthought at this point. A few hours walk was surely enough distance between the dark-haired youth and he and the princess. Then again, he wasn't really good at telling time. That was Gohan's area of expertise. Looking about the wooded area, he felt that he and the princess had finally reached the point of no return.<p>

For her virginity of course.

"So princess, you enjoying yourself?" he said to her as he kept pace with her.

In response, the girl looked to him and gave a smile. "Very much, Mr. Sharpner. How much further is it to the village? I hope we can get back to Mr. Gohan soon."

"Oh don't you worry about that. It's not much further now, though it will take a little more time to get to. And you know what they say about spending time, right?"

Videl shook her head. "No, what do they say?"

"That if you want time to fly, you have to have fun! So, how would you like to have some fun?"

Sharpner's innuendo seemed to fall flat on the girl as she tilted her head to a side in confusion. "Fun? Do you mean like playing a game? Like tag?" she asked.

"Yeah! Like that!" Sharpner jumped on. Okay, he couldn't be his charming and seductive self at the moment, especially since the princess seemed to have stolen some of Gohan's naivety in bundles. But if she thought they were playing a game, then all the much more fun it would be! "And I've got just the game for us to play. All you have to do is do as I say and we'll be having so much fun that we'll be screaming out loud! Now open your mouth and close your eyes—"

"Tag!" the princess suddenly shouted, giving the blond an unexpected shove—a shove that sent him flying into a nearby tree. "Catch me if you can!" he heard the girl cry out as he barely managed to turn his head in time to see her running further down the trail.

Damn it all, that girl hadn't heard one word he said after "yeah!" That was okay though, it would just make everything all the better when he finally chased her down. But geez, did she really have to slam him into a tree? Pushing off the large plant, leaving a large indention in it, and pieces of bark falling off of him as he did so, he began stumbling after the runaway princess. "I'll get you!" he called after her, trying to sound friendly, though it came out more like a threat if anything. Oh Kami, he just hoped there wasn't any internal bleeding from that push. At least his handsome face wasn't hurt in the crash

And predictably, he tripped and fell flat on his face. Ow, this was going to be much harder than he thought.

* * *

><p>Gohan sat on his haunches, smacking his lips as he woke his brain up from sleep. He didn't really remember much after that bridge episode other than being utterly wiped out. They hadn't even gotten that far away from the river when he just collapsed on the ground, determined to get some rest. It had been quite awhile since he had felt this exhausted.<p>

Looking around, he took in the sight of the campsite, from the long dead fire to his pack to the utter peacefulness. It was really nice to have everything so quiet when one woke up.

And that was when Gohan brain finally kicked in and alerted him to the fact that it _was_ quiet. Too quiet for someone that was used to a very loud mouth blond and a combative princess—not to mention the various noises from their new animal entourage. Looking about, he began to panic as he realized he was the only one there, no sight of Sharpner or Videl anywhere. Not even the animals were around! Immediately he was on his feet, looking all over the campsite for any sign of the two. "Sharpner! Videl!" he shouted as he jumped all over the place. This wasn't making any sense to the young man. Why weren't the other two here? Had they actually left him behind after he had fallen asleep? No, no that wouldn't happen. Videl was being way to nice and virtuous to just decide to leave him behind. And Sharpner…well, the blond could be grating at times but even he had to have some sort of loyalty, right?

As he appeared next to the fire pit, he noticed something unusual. One of the rocks looked as if something had been drawn on it. Squatting down, he examined the drawing and quickly discerned that there were words and the rock.

_Whent four suplies. Bee bak befour yoo wak uhp. See ya suker._

Well, if he had to say anything about it, it had to have been Sharpner who wrote on the rock. He was pretty sure that Videl was actually taught how to write and spell correctly so any words that looked wrong probably weren't done by her. Perhaps Sharpner needed to go through what ever teachings Videl had. His writing sucked. And what the heck was "suker?"

Standing again, Gohan walked to the road and stared at it, looking for any footprints that would Sharpner or Videl's. Thankfully, it seemed not a lot of people used this road so he only found two sets of footprint heading further down the road. Staring at the tracks, Gohan couldn't help but notice that they weren't fresh. In fact, he would have judged them to be a couple hours old at the least.

Looking up, the young man began taking in area. Seeing the same old, same old wooden area they had crossed the bridge—the Forest of Light a nearby sign declared oddly enough—and combining the fact that there were a limited number of footprints on the very brown road, a nagging thought popped up in the back of his head. For some reason, he was starting to doubt that there was a village somewhere out here. And the more he thought about this, the more he came to one conclusion.

He had been left behind.

First he felt angry. Two people he had counted on just up and abandoned him, which wasn't a very happy thought. But then that anger died down once he took a deep breath. Assuming what he thought was obviously not the way to think right now. Perhaps there was a more innocent reason for him being left here and the only way to find out was to go after Sharpner and Videl. Seeing as they had quite a head start on him, it seemed it was gonna have to make some time up.

Picking up his pack and securing it tightly to himself, the young man stood on the road and began focusing his limited magical abilities, closing his eyes as he did so. This had been one of the first spells Mr. Piccolo had taught him when he was young, one he was to use if something bad happened and Mr. Piccolo was unable to protect him. It was surprisingly the easiest spell the green man had tried to ram down his throat and one that was quite easy to swallow. Opening his eyes, he then triggered the spell.

"RUN AWAY!" he shouted as he took off running, the trees at the road's edge blurring around him as he shot down the trail like a missile. A cloud of dust was kicked up in his wake as he ran, his magically-enhanced legs pumping up and down in time with his pumping arms.

Haha! He'd catch up with his companions in no time!

* * *

><p>"Gotcha!" Mr. Sharpner shouted as he lunged forward, wrapping his arms around Videl as he tackled her to the ground. The princess let out a cry of surprise, followed by laughter as she hit the ground, Mr. Sharpner landing on top of her. This had been so much fun! Videl couldn't remember her last game of tag, but she was pretty sure it hadn't been nearly as fun as this one. They needed to play this with Mr. Gohan when they met up with him. It would be even more fun!<p>

"I finally…got you…" Mr. Sharpner panted over her, trying to catch his breath. Videl couldn't help but giggle at this. She had really done her best to make it difficult to catch and she hadn't been disappointed with her friend's relentlessness to catch her. It had only made things much more fun. Through trees and bushes, zig zags, dodges, and bobs and weaves, she had evaded her pursuer for so long she had felt he would never tag her. Of course, now she was it and she would have to wait for Mr. Sharpner to get off of her so she could chase him.

All the while, Mr. Sharpner kept trying to catch his breath, seeming to succeed after awhile. However, he didn't seem to be in much of a hurry to get off of her, straddling his legs on either side of her. As he looked down at her, a look came across his face that made the princess' face heat up. "Now that I caught you, it's time we did something I want to do," he said with a predatory gleam in his eyes.

"W-what do you mean?" Videl asked, puzzled yet feeling her face increasingly becoming red.

"What I mean is whenever the person who's it tags another person, that person has to do something for the person that tagged them," Mr. Sharpner explained. "And since I tagged you, you have to do something for me and I get to choose what it is. Easy, right?"

Videl felt herself gulp nervously. "Okay…I guess that makes sense," she said eventually. "So what do I have to do for you, Mr. Sharpner?"

The blond smirked. "All you have to do is relax. I'll do all the work, okay? Just enjoy yourself." As he said this, his hands began moving against her sides, stroking, caressing even. Up and down they went, from the swell of her hips, up her ribs, and backing off just before they reached her breasts. But each trip up brought them closer to that part of her body; it was making her feel even more nervous the longer he and further up he went. "Don't worry, I'll be gentle," he murmured as he began to lower his head to hers, his eyes half-lidded.

Videl's heart was pounding in her chest like a war drum. Louder and louder, harder and harder it got as her loving friend descended his head lower and lower. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion, every sound louder than it actually was. The birds chirping, the swallowing of her saliva, the rustling of clothes. Was…was he going to do what she thought he was going to do? Was he going to…kiss her? Oh my, she was going to have her first fairy tale kiss! She couldn't help but feel nervous as Mr. Sharpner drew nearer and nearer. She was an innocent princess after all and she had never had her magical kiss moment. This could very well be it for her and she didn't want to ruin it, no sir, no way! She just hoped Mr. Sharpner wouldn't be disappointed with her because of her inexperience.

Unconsciously, one of her legs began to move on its own, shifting about until it reached a certain spot. With no conscious control of the limb, her knee snapped up, bending her leg until it slammed into the very sensitive, very unprotected nether-regions of Mr. Sharpner's groin.

Mr. Sharpner's eyes shot wide open as he stopped what he was doing. His jaw dropped in an attempt to scream, the only sound coming out being a very high-pitched squeak. Staring at him with wide eyes, Videl had no idea why he stopped, not even realizing her leg dropped to the ground slowly before shooting back up, colliding with the blond's man parts again. This caused Mr. Sharpner to fall off the princess, clutching his screaming manparts, despite the fact that he couldn't utter a sound at all.

Blinking her eyes, she just stared at her fallen friend, completely oblivious to the reason behind his latest actions. That was until she felt her body shift until she was on her knees, leaning over his prone body. It was then that she noticed one of her arms hovering in the air next to her, her hand balled into a fist, which surprised her. She hadn't made the conscious choice to raise her arm, yet it was as if something was controlling it. As if to confirm that, her arm began acting on its own, raining down a barrage of punches as it beat Mr. Sharpner to a pulp.

At first she was terrified. Why was she beating up her friend? She had to stop before he got seriously hurt! But then…she had this weird feeling. She was starting to enjoy the physical damage she was causing.

This was becoming fun!

Eventually, her arm tired itself out and came to a stop, leaving similarly tired Videl and a very bruised and beaten Mr. Sharpner. And bloodied, couldn't forget the blood! In fact, his whole face looked so deformed, you couldn't really call it a face. But how was he able to breathe then? She was sure his nose was…where was his nose? Oh wait, there it was, right where his left eye socket should be; never mind.

Some rustling occurred nearby, causing her to look. "My friends!" she squealed, as her eyes fell upon her collection of woodland critters. "You followed me! Oh, now I know I have to keep you all. I'll take you home with me once we're done with this quest, I promise!"

Standing up, Videl looked around the area, finding out that she and her friends were in a clearing right next to the brown road. Ignoring the soft, gargling noises and Mr. Sharpner's twitching foot, the princess walked over to the road and looked one way and then the other. Seeing no one, she sighed before she sat on the ground, bringing her legs up to her chest as she wrapped her arms around her knees. Since Mr. Sharpner was unconscious, possibly in a coma, she couldn't leave him by himself and she had no idea where the nearest village was. She was going to have to wait for someone to walk by so she could ask for directions, like any sensible lady would. For some reason though, she could faintly recall the young men she traveled with rarely asking for them. It was almost as if they were determined to not know where they were going, yet claim they knew exactly which way they were going.

She wasn't sure how long she waited, but eventually she saw a cloud of dust rising in the distance, somewhere further down the road. Looking at it, she realized it was growing bigger, which meant that what ever or who ever it was, it was coming this way. Getting excited, Videl hopped onto her feet and started waving towards the growing cloud, a big smile on her face. Pausing for a moment, she then opened up the front of her shirt and reached a hand in. Pulling it back, she removed a lacey handkerchief and then rose it high into the air, waving it at the enlarging cloud.

The next thing Videl know, what ever was causing the cloud raced by her, kicking up the dirt and dust all over her as it passed by. Coughing, Videl shoved her face into the handkerchief, trying to block as much of that cloud as possible. What rudeness.

As she squinted her eyes to look at what she assumed would be a receding cloud of smoke, she instead found the cloud dissipating, revealing a figure standing frozen in a running man stance. A moment later and the person began walking backwards until he stood in front of her, still in the stance, turning their head to look at her.

It took her a moment before she realized who it was. "Mr. Gohan!" she cried out as she leapt at him, smothering him in a hug as she inadvertently forced his face into her bosom. "It's so good to see you! Did you sleep well?"

When Mr. Gohan pulled his face from her cleavage, he looked at her bewildered. "Videl? I…uhh…I'm doing well. How are you? What are you doing here?"

A huge smile erupted on her face. "I'm very good!" Turning around, she pointed to Mr. Sharpner's corpse. "Me and Mr. Sharpner were going to a village to get supplies and played a game of tag! Then I beat him up till he looked like that. It was so much fun!"

Mr. Gohan sweatdropped. "I…bet it was."

Looking back at the young man, something struck Videl. Separating from him, she crossed her arms over her chest and began to pout. "You weren't supposed to wake up!" she complained. "We were supposed to get the supplies and get back to you before you woke up! This is so unfair!"

Mr. Gohan blinked. "You were coming back? I see." He then began to scratch the back of his neck.

Videl couldn't help but coo at the sight. This young man could be so adorable! "But now you're here, so we can go get the supplies together!" she announced, one of her fists shooting up into the air to punctuate her point.

Leaning to a side, Mr. Gohan looked at Mr. Sharpner's still twitching form. "So what do we do about Sharpner? I don't think he'll be moving any time soon."

Videl shot her hands to her mouth, gasping at the thought. "That's right! Mr. Sharpner can't move anymore! Do you think his legs are broken? Is he paralyzed? What do we do, Mr. Gohan? What do we do?"

Still looking towards the blond, the Mr. Gohan pondered their situation until he came up with a solution. He was really, really, really smart like that. "We can leave him here while we go to the Wizard of Z, I guess. It's not like he's going to be moving around while we're gone. We can meet back here when we're done."

"But what if he recovers fast? What if he gets up and we're not here and starts to worry? We can't do that Mr. Gohan!"

"…we can always leave him a note?"

Videl smiled widely at the young man, her eyes shining in awe. Golly, was Mr. Gohan smart or what? He really knew what to do in these situations. Watching him as he lowered his pack and began digging into it, he muttered "Now if only I could find some paper and something to write with."

Hey, she could help! "I can do that!" she declared, pulling out her picnic basket from where she had it kept and opened it, digging into it. She then pulled out her beloved woodland friend, Woody the Beaver and looked at Mr. Gohan proudly. "Woody can make us paper! Go Woody! Make us paper!"

The beaver saluted the girl with one of its paws before leaping from her arms. Lumbering over to a nearby tree, he began doing what he was born to do. A loud, whining sound started as the beaver gnawed into the bark. Doing a few things the two dark-haired youths couldn't see, the beaver worked and worked until finally stopping and returning to Videl, a sheet of paper clutched between its bucked teeth.

"Thank you Woody!" Videl praised as she took the sheet and hugged her woodland buddy. "You are the best beaver in the world, yes you are! I don't know what I would do without you!" Rubbing her face into his coat, she finally put Woody back into her basket and turned to a baffled Mr. Gohan, handing him the sheet. "Here's the paper Mr. Gohan!" she said expectantly.

"Uhh, thanks," he managed to say before he sat down, resting the paper sheet against his pack. Before he could even utter about a writing utensil, a feather was thrust in front of his face, causing him to look back at Videl's smiling face, utterly oblivious to one of the ducks behind her quacking up a storm in protestation. Thanking her again, the young man found something that would make do for ink and began writing out the note.

"Went…on…ahead," Mr. Gohan read out loud. "Will…be…back…once…we…get…to…the…Wizard. Stay…here…until…we…return."

Turning to her, he then asked "Is this good?" Lighting up her sparkling smile, the princess' entire world seemed to brighten.

"Yes Mr. Gohan, it's perfect!" Snatching the note from him, she skipped over to Mr. Sharpner and placed the note on his stomach. Skipping back, she then held her arm our and looked at him expectantly. "We're ready to go, Mr. Gohan!"

"I think I'm going to regret this," Mr. Gohan murmured to himself as he hooked his arm around hers.

"_We're off to see the Wizard! The wonderful Wizard of Z!"_

* * *

><p>To I'm a person: I get what you mean lol. And yes, I'm pretty sure you've said this new Videl scares you. But it bares repeating, I imagine lol.<p>

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	34. Her Only Hope was the Wizard of Z

Alright, so I lied at the end of Onslaught. With this chapter, Dragon Quest Z is now my longest worded story. Totally did not see that one coming.

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><p>It was quite an odd sight. After traveling for so long without seeing anything like it, it was unexpected to see. The very brown road still went on further, despite the changing environment. The forest they had entered since the bridge had begun receding. The number of trees had steadily decreased to the point one could actually see a horizon through them, rather than an endless maze of bark and vegetation. There was still plenty of plant life, such as the grass and shrubberies, but they didn't impede one's sight like a tree could.<p>

Which is what made this new development all the more surprising. Sitting off the trail was a little house; a house that was more round than square like all the other buildings Gohan and Videl had seen in their life. In fact, one could call it a small-domed building with a little chimney on top, puffing out a thin cloud of smoke. It conveyed a scene of peacefulness, the likes of which the two rarely saw in their daily lives.

Gohan and Videl stood in front of it with unblinking eyes, wondering if the house would disappear if they did blink. If this was indeed an illusion, it was a very good one. Then again, what did they know about illusions? It wasn't like they were expects on the subject or anything.

Yet it was at least something they could focus on. After they had left Sharpner, Videl had fallen into a silence, which was very unusual for her current demeanor. Ever since she had put those shoes on, it was as if she had an endless supply of energy and had to use ever last bit of it as soon as she could. Though she had been that way initial, after awhile she had settled for just walking with Gohan, alternating between holding his hand and wrapping her arms around one of his arms. For a moment, Gohan had wondered if the shoes were losing their hold on her; one look into her vacant, unintelligent eyes made him scratch that idea completely.

So instead of hoping for such an unlikely development, the young man began viewing this latest development as a sign that there was still some bit of Videl still alive, kicking and screaming within the shell of her new personality and was doing the only thing she could to reach out. Wishful thinking, but it was something he could hang onto for the last few hours. Hey, it was better than thinking his spitfire princess was gone for good.

And speaking of hand holding, the young man felt the princess squeeze his hand with hers. "Golly, I wonder what this place is," she said. "Do you think there's someone here? If so, this is a really weird place for them to set up a house."

Well, when you were right, you were right. "Maybe we should go see if anyone is home?" Gohan suggested. "If so, we can ask how much further we have to go to get to the Land of Z. Hopefully it's not too much further."

Videl turned her intellectually-vacant eyes to the young man, staring at him in awe. "That is such a good idea, Mr. Gohan! You're so smart!" she praised. Gohan just gave her a large, fake smile and had no doubt the princess would accept it at face value. It was best to just humor her behavior for the moment and hope that he wouldn't make a habit of it. He was making enough of them as it already was. Deciding to lead the way before something else distracted the princess, he then led her to the door, stopping in front of it, and knocking on its old, wooden surface.

Almost immediately, they heard an answer. "No one's home!"

"Awww…" Videl pouted. "It doesn't look like there's anyone here, Mr. Gohan. I guess we should get going."

Gohan blinked owlishly, tried to say something, then just settled on blinking again. He knew that at times he could be really naïve but this…this was really pushing it. How could anyone believe that a building was unoccupied despite hearing a voice coming from it? It wasn't like there was magic out…oh, right. But still, Gohan was pretty certain magic wasn't involved in this instance. So how did he get this mysterious person to open his door?

Knocking on the door, he then said "Umm, but sir, I see smoke coming from your house. Wouldn't that mean there's a fire?"

A few moments passed before the same voice said "Fire? There's a fire? Is my house on fire?" Immediately the sound of feet pounding on the floor was heard before the door swung open, hitting Gohan in the face in the process. Emerging through the door was a robed blue man with long antennas growing from his head. He had a short, yet very round body though the roundness could be blamed on his bulging black robe.

Like a cricket, he turned every which way in a panic, trying to find the perceived fire on his house behind small dark glasses, which perched on his noseless face. "Where is it? Where is it? I can't see the fire!" he cried out.

"Mr. Gohan? Are you alright?" Videl exclaimed as she knelt next to Gohan, who was lying on the ground while clutching his face. That door hadn't held anything back when it had hit him. "Here, let me bandage you up!" she declared as one of her hands disappeared into her basket and pulled out a large roll of bandage tape. "Now hold still, this won't take a minute!"

"Hey! My house isn't on fire!" the blue man shouted as he finally began to calm down. Turning to the two, he glared at them heatedly. "Why would you say something so irresponsible? Huh? Are you trying to give me a heartattack? I'll have you know, I can turn you into a newt with the flick of my wrist!"

Unfortunately, the man's threat fell on deaf ears, mostly because Gohan was now struggling with Videl to prevent her from turning into a mummy. "Don't worry, I don't feel that bad anymore!" he exclaimed as he tried to grab onto her swiftly-moving hands. While unsuccessful, he was managing to slow her down a bit, despite the randomly placed bandages around his head.

"But you're hurt Mr. Gohan! If I don't bandage you up, you could get infected and die! I don't want you to die, Mr. Gohan!"

"HEY! QUIT IGNORING ME!" the blue man screamed, finally getting their attention as they blinked owlishly at him. "What's the big idea telling me my house is on fire when it's clearly not? You better give me a good explanation or you can bet you'll be hearing from my lawyer!"

The two dark-haired youths looked at each other before looking back at the odd man before simulstaneously "What's a lawyer?"

"You know, one of those bottom-feeding lowlifes." He then paused. "Ignore the redundancy there."

Great, another weirdo for them to have some wacky mishap with. Perhaps they really should have just left when they had the chance. Carefully moving away from Videl as he removed some of the more inconveniently placed wrappings, Gohan said "I apologize for deceiving you, but we're on the way to the Land of Z and were hoping you could tell us how much further we have to go."

"Z? Why would you want to go to that place? There isn't anything there," the blue man said. "I would know, I've been there."

A sinking feeling began to appear in Gohan's gut. The Wizard of Z just had to be there, he just had to be! Otherwise he and Videl had come all this way for nothing and still stuck with those cursed shoes on Videl's feet. "Are you sure there's nothing there? We've come all this way to see the Great Wizard of Z because we really need his help."

A peculiar look appeared on the man's face. "You've come to see the Wizard, you say? What have you heard of this wizard?"

Before Gohan could respond, Videl appeared between the two, a large smile on her face as she began saying "The Wizard of Z is a wonder wizard, he is! He's so wonderful and powerful that he can please everyone he meets! And—"

Gohan's hands suddenly clamped down on Videl's mouth, quieting her down. It would have been silence but the princess kept talking as if she weren't bothered by her impromptu gag, muffled sounds being plainly heard. "She's the reason why we're looking for this wizard," Gohan summed up.

However, the man seemed to be preening from what the princess had said. "Well, you two are in luck! _I_ am the Wizard of Z! But you can call me King Kai."

That proclaimation managed to stop Videl's speaking as the couple stared at him. At first, Gohan felt extreme relief—they had finally found the wizard! The next thing he felt was apprehension upon hearing his name—though to be more exact, the word Kai. Why did they have to deal with another Kai, especially since their reason for being in this predicament was because of a perverted Kai?

Removing his hands from her mouth, Videl took a few steps towards King Kai, looking at him curiously. "But…why aren't you in the Wonderful Land of Z? That's where we were supposed to go."

"Like I said, there's nothing there," the Kai answered. "How that dusty place can be some holy land is beyond me. It reminded me of one of those old ladies that haven't left their rocking chairs in years. So I came this way and built this house with my bare hands. Pretty nice place, don't you think?"

Videl seemed lost for a few moments. Then "But we're suppose to meet you in the Wonderful Land of Z. You're supposed to help me there, not here."

King Kai blinked his eyes before looking to Gohan. "She's not all there, is she?" he said, pointing a finger at the distraught girl. In response, Gohan just shrugged his shoulders. In his mind, it was better to be noncommittal at this point, especially since the real Videl could be returning soon and probably wouldn't like any of the insults aimed her way.

And following that train of thought, Gohan felt it was in everyone's best interest if they moved their conversation forward, specifically to the point where this Kai guy helped them. "You see, sir, this is sort of the reason why we're here. My friend isn't normally like this."

"She isn't? Then why is she this way now?"

"Well, she was given these magical shoes by the Head of the Kai House—"

"The Kai House?" King Kai suddenly exclaimed. "You came from there? Then that must mean…he sent you, didn't he? He wants you to drag me back like a helpless child and so he can do all those tortures of his. Oh, you didn't think I knew about that waterboarding of his, did you? Well, ha! I'm not that dumb, I'll have you know!"

For what felt like the thousandth time since he began this journey, Gohan blinked owlishly. "What's waterboarding?"

"Don't play dumb with me! You know exactly what it is! You put a person…" King Kai trailed off as he noticed the vacant and confused expression on the young man's face that eerily resembled the one on Videl's. "Wait, you don't know about waterboarding?" he asked, receiving a nod in reply. "Oh. Well, just forget I said anything about that. It's a state secret you know—punishable by death even if it ever got out." The Kai's eyes narrowed. "You're not gonna tell anyone I told you about it, right?"

"Yeah, sure," was all Gohan could reply. "But the shoes on Videl's feet. Do you know anything about those?"

Looking at the red, sparkly shoes on the princess' feet, the Kai studied them for a moment before nodding his head in acknowledgement. "Oh those? Yeah, I know about them. So what seems to be the problem? Didn't you want the girl to be your slave?"

"S-s-slave?" Gohan sputtered. "No! I don't want that! I wasn't even the one to put them on her to begin with!"

"You didn't? Why not? That's the only reason she should be wearing them."

"It was that Old Kai in the village. He gave them to her as a gift or so he claimed."

King Kai stared at Gohan for a few moments before the young man's words clicked in his head. "Ohhh, so it was that old lecher's fault. That makes sense. Well, I've got some good news for you then—the changes to the girl are reversible, as long as she hasn't had sex since she put them on."

A blush worked its way onto the dark-haired youth's face. "Wh-what does sex have to do with this?"

"Well you see, the whole purpose of those shoes is to make a girl an undying slave. Kinda like marriage," the Kai explained. "And just like marriage, the way to consummate it is by the two people involved having sex with each other. So as long as she hasn't done the horizontal mamba, she can be separated from the shoes and who ever put them on her, just without losing half of the guy's property."

"Well, I know she hasn't had sex with the old guy," Gohan said quickly. All this marriage stuff was starting to make him uncomfortable. Kinda like the word commitment—that one always bothered him for some reason. "And she's only been around me and a friend of ours, so I don't think she's had sex since putting the shoes on."

King Kai nodded his head as he heard this, turning his head to look at Videl as she pranced around in his yard. After a few moments, he said "How the heck were you able not to sleep with her?" his head following the girl as she skipped about. "You look like a capable lad and she's quite a head-turner."

Gohan answered that with two words. "Chastity belt."

"Ahhhh."

Of course, Gohan was completely forgetting the fact he had last seen the tattered remains of that special belt on the floor of a cave, but that was a minor detail worthy of forgetting. "So can you help us take those shoes off?"

"Nope."

"Huh? But why not?"

"Well, you are on a quest, yes? Specifically one to see me," King Kai responded. "So that means you have to overcome some sort of obstacle in order to gain the use of my services, or at least that's what my contractual obligations tell me. So in order to earn my services, you must…uhhh…" the Kai paused as he began raking his mind for something, anything to tell the young man. Just great, the one day he needed to come up with a quest challenge and he was drawing a blank. "Umm…" he continued to stall until the first idea that popped into his head appeared. "You must beat me in a joke telling contest!"

A gust of wind blew by, a tumbleweed rolling along with it. A joke contest? But…he didn't have any jokes! Well, good ones anyways. Gohan had tried to make Mr. Piccolo laugh with some and all it got him was the green man telling him to shut up or he'll shut him up permanently. He wasn't sure how Mr. Piccolo would do that but he wasn't really willing to find out. Looking over to Videl as she knelt by some butterflies, speaking pure gibberish to them, Gohan sighed as his shoulders sagged. It seemed he had no choice but to do as the Kai wanted. "Alright, I'll do it."

King Kai smirked, his glasses glinting with deviously. They didn't call him the Joke Master of Z for nothing after all. "That's a good lad. The rules are simple: the first one to make the other laugh from their joke wins. I'll start us off then." Clearing his throat, the Kai struck a pose and said "Why did the Kai throw his clock out of the window?" Upon seeing Gohan staring at him befuddled, King Kai snorted as he tried to hold back his laughter for the punch line. "Because he wanted to see time fly!"

The only sound either one of them heard was the chirping of crikets. "Uhh, you get that right?" the Kai prompted. "A clock tells the time so he threw it to make time fly?"

A burst of laughter caught their attention, drawing them to Videl as she giggled relentlessly. "See! She gets it!" King Kai proclaimed. Upon seeing Gohan still not laughing, the Kai had to wonder if the young man even knew what humor was. Oh well, all that meant was that he wouldn't know how to tell a good joke and it was only a matter of time before he wore him down. This was all in the bag.

"So it's my turn now?" Gohan asked, receiving a nod in reply. Hmm, now what joke could he use? It wasn't as if he had kept up with the comedy scene after he failed to make Mr. Piccolo laugh. "Umm…what do you call spending an afternoon with a cranky rabbit?"

Unlike him, the Kai joined in on the joke. "What?"

"A bad hare day."

Videl once again began giggling incessantly. Meanwhile, King Kai stared at the young man before his hands flew up to his mouth, trying to silence himself. Oh, this boy was better than he thought! If he didn't keep his wit about him, he could lose this thing! Once he felt he wouldn't laugh at any second, the Kai removed his hands and prepared for the next round.

"That was a good one, but sadly not enough to win this thing for you. Now, I guarantee you'll laugh at this one! Ehem…When two drums and a cymbal fall off a cliff, what sound do they make?" Seeing Videl standing next to them, leaning closer for the highly anticipated answer, and Gohan just shrugging his shoulders in answer, King Kai let them have it. "Badum-ch!"

"Ba…dum…ch?" Videl repeated slowly, tilting her head to a side as she contemplated the punch line. Gohan also couldn't quite grasp it as well. What did a sound have to do with anything?

"Badum-ch? Oh come on! Any comedian knows that!" the kai shouted. Holding his hands up, he pretended to play a set of drums. "Badum-ch!" he said again, his hand hitting a pretend cymbol at the end. Once again, it completely flew over their heads. "Erghh, fine, just get your turn over with."

"Oh, my turn? Umm…what did the fish say when he swam into a wall?"

"What?"

"Dam."

"Gohan!" Videl exclaimed, oblivious to King Kai trying to stuff his laughter down his throat. "You used a naughty word without censorship! That isn't safe for children to hear!"

Gohan began scratching the back of his head. "Well, I didn't mean dam in that way. I meant dam as a dam that holds back water."

Videl blinked at him slowly before she began her giggling. "Oh! Then that's alright."

"I believe it's my turn now," King Kai interrupted, shifting his glasses on his face. "What does a man do standing up, a woman do sitting down, and a dog do on three legs?"

"What?" Gohan asked.

"Shake hands!"

Again, Videl laughed, but this time Gohan gave it some thought. "Hmm…I guess that makes sense…" he spoke out loud.

"It's suppose to be funny you moron!" King Kai shouted, steam shooting out of his ears out of frustration. "Did someone drop you on your head as a kid? This is comedic gold I'm giving you! You should be r-o-t-g-l-o-l!

Gohan blinked. "R-o-t-g-l-o-l?"

"Yes! Rolling on the ground, laughing out loud!"

"Oh…I'm sorry. Is it my turn now?"

"Yeah, yeah, just get your stupid turn over."

"Hmmm…uhh...oh! You can tune a piano, but you can't tuna fish." Looking towards Videl, Gohan expected her to begin her laughing any minute now, mostly because she had been doing it for every joke thus far. He was quite surprised to hear snorting coming from King Kai though, turning to face the Kai as he burst out laughing.

"That's a good one! I have to write it down!" he shouted in his laughter. Pulling out a pad of paper and a feather pen, he immediately began writing the joke down before something dawned on him. He had laughed out loud, hadn't he? He…he had lost the joke contest. Like a heavy weight landing on his shoulders with the sound of a gong ringing in the background, King Kai fell to the ground, utterly defeated. "It…it can't be…" he said softly. "I lost. I lost! But I never lose a joke contest!"

"So, does that mean you'll help take these shoes off of Videl?" Gohan asked.

"Yes, yes it does." Getting off the ground and dusting himself off, he looked to Videl as she looked back at him expectantly. "Now to use the words and remove those magical shoes. Alakazam! Come off!" he declared as he pointed his hands at the ruby shoes, expecting them to obey his wishes and magic.

Nothing happened.

"Hmm…this may be tougher than I thought," King Kai muttered to himself. "Abra-kadabra! Disappear!" Again, nothing happened. "Hocus Pocus! Shazam! Simon Says! Bibbidi, Bobbidi—oh to hell with it!"

Dropping his magic use, King Kai strode to the girl, dropped to his knees and yanked one of her feet off the ground. This caused the princess to lose her balance, giving out a cry of surprise as she fell, landing on her tush with an "oomph." "Owww," she whined as she tried to sooth the dull throbbing in her hindquarters. "My butt hurts."

Meanwhile, King Kai had been fiddling with the shoe until an audible click was heard and he tugged the ruby slipper off, tossing it over his shoulder without a care and hitting Gohan in the head. Ignoring the young man's yelp, he dropped Videl's stocking-covered foot and picked up her other one and did the same thing, removing the slipper soon after and tossing it, hitting Gohan again. "There!" he announced with relief. "I'm finished!"

Immediately, Gohan ignored the bumps that were emerging on his head, quickly standing next to the Kai as he rose back to his feet. Looking down at Videl as she remained seated, leaning back with her arms holding her up and her knees sticking up in the air, the young man couldn't help but notice the slow receding pupils of the princess, her startled facial expression melting into a blank one. The girl soaked in everything around her, from the smirking Kai, an anxious Gohan, to the tree off in the background that looked as if it had a hundred squirrels running around it, trying to fortify it as base of attack on the odd-looking house next to it. "Wh-where…where am I?" she finally asked, her voice the calmer, more wary tone that Gohan had heard her use the second time she had spoken to him—the first time being with her screaming and trying to kill him of course. It was most definitely not that energic and cheery voice she had been using for the last several days and that was something Gohan couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief on.

"Videl, you're you again," he said, resisting the urge to collapse to the ground. At last, luck was finally smiling upon them. Though it seemed the princess had no idea where they were, perhaps it was for the best that she didn't remembered the trip here.

"Well, of course I'm me," Videl replied. "It's not as if I were some empty-headed bimbo who burst into song at any…given…moment…" she trailed, her eyes narrowing as she noticed the stiffening in Gohan's posture. The next thing the young man knew, Videl was on her feet and standing right in front of him, staring him down like she was gonna bleed him of every secret he had in him. "Okay, what's going on?" she demanded.

"Umm…I think it would be a good idea if you didn't know," Gohan replied as he took a step back. "I don't think you'll like to hear what you've been doing for the last few days."

"Last few days? What are you talking about?"

Scratching the back of his head, Gohan decided to try a different approach. "Well, what's the last thing you remember?"

The girl stared him down for a few moments before answering him. "I remember being in Kai Village and that old pervert was giving me a pair of shoes. Then…" the princess trailed off, her head tilting down as she frowned.. "I don't…really know. It's just a big blur between then and now. I can faintly remember some singing, a little skipping, and something about a trouser snake but that's about it." Her head then snapped back up to the lad, her eyes narrowed in determination. "Okay, what the heck happened?"

Thankfully, King Kai decided to help Gohan out, much to the young man's relief. "Perhaps I can be of assistance with that," he said humorously. As Videl turned to him to hear his explanation, he said "These shoes you were given are enchanted. They make who ever wears them into a docile shell of themselves. Usually the memories of such a period of submissiveness are repressed by the wearer so it's perfectly naturally that you don't—"

"So you mean to tell me that those shoes made me act in a certain way that I would want to forget everything I did in them?" Videl interrupted.

"Well, if you find being a gullible nitwit something you'd want to forget, then yes."

Videl stared at the Kai for several moments before looking away. "Gohan? Did I embarrass myself over these last few days?" she asked.

Gohan tried to think of numerous ways to tell her gently, but any way he thought about it made that approach all but impossible. So he chose to tell her bluntly. "Yes."

The princess began rubbing her temples, trying to soon the intense mental functions running rampant in her head. "Do me a favor: never mention what I did. Ever."

"You got it."

"Well, as fun as this all was, it's about time I call it a day," King Kai announced. "And if I'm not mistaken, this day is just about over. If you wish, you can spend the night. I'll even feed you."

"Yes, I think we'll do that," Videl replied softly, lost in her own world at the moment. Gohan just nodded his head in acceptance, which caused King Kai to clap his hands enthusiastically. Heading back to his house, the Kai talking outloud about how good of a cook he was and how his food was to die for, just without the dying part. Feeling that Videl needed some time to herself, Gohan began to make his way over to the house as well.

"Gohan?" he heard the princess say softly, causing him to stop in his tracks. Turning around, he saw Videl getting to her feet, looking towards the ground hesitantly. "I…I would like to thank you for helping me throughout all of this. It means a lot to me." Taking a few steps closer to the lad, she finally looked in the eye and gave a weak smile. "I must have been such a burden on you."

Gohan raised a hand and began scratching the back of his head. "I wouldn't say that. I'm just glad you're back to your normal self now."

A firmer smile took place of the girl's face. A reddish tint then appeared on her face as something else formed in her head. The next thing Gohan knew, Videl closed what ever remained of the gap between them and gave him a quick kiss to his lips. Her face redder now, she then hurried off to the small house, leaving Gohan stunned in her wake. That had been quite unexpected.

What a day this was turning out to be.

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><p>The drum and cymbol joke comes from Ms. Videl Son's husband and I must say it's creative. Of course, you'll have to speak to Gohan and Videl about how funny it is. And if any of you remember, the tuna fish joke was used in some DBZ filler when Tien is trying to tell a joke to King Kai. Of course, his telling was a lot more insane than this one lol.<p>

To I'm a person: Looks a lot like my old spelling.

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	35. Who Knew the Secret of the Zeta Sword

_Year 660_

_He was starting to lose his patience, not that he had a lot to begin with. Unfortunately, he had been unaware how trying a crying child could be when they wouldn't obey him. If he had, he probably would have never agreed to this kidnapping business. And what was worse, screaming louder at the child only made it cry _more_. It was beyond his comprehension as to why, after all he had screamed at other children before and they had fallen silent within a matter of moments. Perhaps these Monkey Children were of a different breed._

_He could worry about that later though, right now Piccolo had to find a way to silence the child without killing it nor resorting to tearing his ears off his green head. Maybe if he had hair to pull, he would've resorted to pulling that, but unfortunately he was as bald as a rock._

"_Will you cease that infuriating crying!" he screamed at the little thing, baring his pointed teeth as pulsing veins appeared on his head. Towering over the brat, he had to lean over it in order to make sure this brat knew he wasn't playing around. Again, the child saw fit to continue disobeying him and cried even louder. They were barely a day's travel from the Monkey House and at this rate the entire kingdom would hear him and every House not named Demon House would come crashing down on him. It didn't help matters at all that they were smack dab in the middle of a very wide, very open valley where every thing was green and their clothes made them stick out like sore thumbs. Perhaps they should've stuck to Witch's Forest instead of entering Katat Valley. Errggh, damn it, where was a gag when you needed one?_

"_Curse it all! You are driving me crazy! Stop your sniveling at once or I will tear your tongue right out of your head!"_

_That seemed to have an effect on the brat—finally! The child calmed its crying down, sniveling and whimpering to itself, ignoring the flow of snot dripping from it nose. "I…want…my…mommy…" it blubbered, its tiny hands rubbing the corner of its eyes as it tried to dry them in vain._

"_Your mother is not here nor will she be coming to you anytime soon," Piccolo scoffed. "It is just you and me and there is not a thing you can do to change that. Now if you are done with your pathetic weeping, we shall be off."_

"_But why do I have to go with you?" the child protested, much to Piccolo's chagrin. "I want to go home! I want…my MOMMY!"_

"_NO! Don't start crying!" Piccolo shouted, but found himself too late. The Monkey child began crying at the top of its lungs once more, fresh tears pouring from its eyes. Kami damn it; Kami damn it all! Just when he had the pipsqueak silent, it decided to cry even louder. What had he done to deserve this?_

"_Shut up! Shut your crude little mouth and be silent you miserable little bastard!" Again, the brat's bawling grew louder instead of quieter, driving the demon off the deep end. Burning through his last shred of patience, his giant, green hand descended on the child and grabbed onto the top of its head. Picking him up with ease, he twisted his body around, shouting "I said be silent!" With a swing of his arm, he threw the noisy creature away, the brat flying through the air and crashing head first into a large boulder. What loud words had failed to do, the solid surface of the rock had succeeded in doing as the child immediately went silent, falling to the ground without a sound._

"_Finally! Now I can actually _enjoy _some peace and quiet," Piccolo grumbled as he straightened out his posture, crossing his arms over his broad chest. A feeling of satisfaction welled up in the demon as he waited for the child to get back onto its feet. He couldn't help but ponder why he hadn't done this sooner. Already this solution was reaping him benefits he hadn't thought of existing before this venture._

_However, when the child hadn't moved a muscle after awhile, he began losing his self-satisfaction. "Hey. Hey brat," he called out, expecting a response. When he didn't get one, he began to frown. "Are you still alive? Say something before I come over there and eat you." Again, not so much as a pitiful whimper._

_It was then that Piccolo began to notice a color distortion on the boulder. A large red splotch covered the surface with a few drips creating trails beneath it. A closer look at the child confirmed more blood on its head. A sinking feeling began to appear in Piccolo gut as he began to put two and two together. That blood just couldn't be good._

"_I believe I should not have done that."_

* * *

><p>The clinking of plates and kitchen utensils came to an end as the house occupants finished their meal. The sun was rising to begin a new day and one that was greeted gratefully by at least two of the people at the dinning table. Breakfast had been delicious, especially since most of their recent ones hadn't included bacon, eggs, sausage, pastries, waffles, pancakes, or jams. It was like an oasis of deliciousness and Gohan and Videl savored every bite of it.<p>

And they only had to thank King Kai's little monkey.

His pet monkey that is. Bubbles.

It had been quite shocking to enter the kitchen and find the furry primate slaving over a hot stove and flipping flapjacks into the air. Upon spying them out of the corner of its eye, Bubbles had then reprimanded them for being in the kitchen and kicked them out, doing all of that with various sounds and shrieks. While they didn't understand a word the monkey said, they got the impression it wasn't happy with them standing in its kitchen. At least that's what King Kai told them. They didn't speak ape.

"So how did two kids like you stumble on such an old place like Kai Village?" King Kai asked, leaning back in his chair, his rounded belly rising as he did so. "It's not everyday someone goes wondering to those old coots."

"We were following someone," Videl answered. "A friend. We were traveling together and were separated. We've been trying to find her ever since but she won't stay in one place for very long. Apparently she went to Kai Village and left, but another person traveling with us began picking on one of the villagers." At this Videl growled darkly. "He got us arrested for that act of stupidity."

"And let me guess, they threw you into the cage in the middle of town, tried to force-feed you vegetables, then tried to convert you to the Church of Kai and called Kami an old geezer who had a bad case of ED?"

The dark-haired youths blinked. Sharpner had mentioned something about vegetables when they had rescued him, but there was no mention of religion that they knew of. Or maybe that was something too complex for Sharpner's miniscule brain and he blocked it out. That was entirely possible.

"Well, we weren't there for that part," Gohan finally said. "They sent us on a mission to retrieve something for our freedom."

"A quest huh?" the Kai asked amusedly, raising his hands to rest behind his head. "What kind of quest?"

"To retrieve the Zeta Sword."

All amusement vanished from King Kai's face. "T-the Zeta Sword, huh?" he stuttered nervously, his body stiffening. "Th-they're still looking for that t-thing I see. And did you…find it?"

Videl frowned. Though this Kai was strange to begin with, this was the strangest she had seen him act since yesterday. It was almost as if he were hiding something. In fact, he was acting the same way Gohan had when he left the cave with the sword in hand. Looking at Gohan, she couldn't help but notice his slight unease with the subject. Curious.

"Well…uhh…we found it in a…uhh, cave," Gohan answered in the same wavering tone. "And we got the sword and, uhh—"

"Alright, I've had enough of this," Videl declared, interrupting the young man. "Everytime the sword comes up, you," at this she pointed a finger right at Gohan's startled face, "start acting like you broke an antique." She then moved her finger to point towards King Kai. "And you're acting the same way he is. Now, I want to know what's going on with this sword and you're going to tell me whether you like it or not."

The princess then leaned back into her seat, crossing her arms in front of her as she looked at the two expectantly. Both men looked towards each other and let out a big sigh in resignation. "Well, I suppose I'll go first," the Kai grumbled. "A long time ago I was sent out in search of the Zeta Sword."

Videl nodded her head in affirmation. "Then what?"

"Well, I found it. It was in this cave with neon lights all around it." King Kai then snorted. "I remember thinking how dumb someone would have to be not to find that cave, since it had that big arrow pointed at it. So I went in and found the sword resting in a large stone. There was also this sign in front of it and I have to say it was a rather rude sign. It kept mocking me the entire time I was there. But I showed it whose boss! I just pulled out my—"

Videl cleared her throat nosily, stopping the Kai's story. "If you could keep on track please?"

"Oh, right. Well, I removed the sword and felt this huge serge of power flowing from it. It was incredible! I've never felt anything like it before or since! But…"

"But?"

"I broke it."

Videl jumped at that. This guy _broke_ the Zeta Sword? The sword that supposedly made its wielder invincible?

That was when Gohan reentered the conversation. "You broke it? But it was whole when I found it! And it broke when I used it too!"

"What? That's not making any sense!" Videl said. "He broke it. You broke it. How is that even possible? Unless that sword can piece itself back together, you two breaking it on two separate occasions is impossible!" Looking to Gohan then, "And we gave a sword to that old Kai too! Just what did you give him if you broke the sword?"

* * *

><p>Lord Kai was sitting on his throne, bandages wrapped around his body and face at random points. He was in the middle of recovering from a beating he had received at the hands of one of the Kai ladies recently, one that didn't seem to know what an honor it was to be harassed by the Kai Head. If only he still had those shoes, he could have made her a weak-kneed damsel before she ruined his dashing good looks. It was fortunate that he knew a spell to restore his handsome mug, otherwise getting those other attractive young girls would be next to impossible.<p>

But all was not lost. He had the Zeta Sword now and with all of its power and glory, he could reclaim the kingdom that had been taken from his people. All he needed to do was rest up his wounded body and he would be good as new and ready to kick some butt! He would've done it now but his injuries kept making themselves a painful reminder as to why he hadn't done so already.

Well, if he couldn't commit random acts of violence, at least he could gaze on the weapon that would make all of his dreams possible—excluding the erotic ones of course. It would be a bit awkward having a sword of sharper quality in that sort of thing. Hoisting the scabbard-covered sword, he pulled the blade out, hearing the hiss of iron rubbing against leather. Light gleamed off of the swords edge, giving it a mysterious aura as his old eyes looked at it. What a delightful sight. Fully unsheathing the sword, he held it out in front of him, gazing lovingly at it, all the while feeling a surge of strength he had never thought possible.

"I…have…THE POWER!" he shouted, standing from his throne and holding the sword high above his head. That turned out to be a bad idea as a jolt of pain ran through his body, causing him to immediately sit back down. Yeah…he could do that sometime later, when he was less inclined to having one of his ribs breaking off. Wincing, his eyes shut close for a moment before opening. It was because of this that something caught his eye.

There at the base of the sword, just at it emerged from the guard and grip, some words were engraved into the metal. Squinting, he held the sword as far away from himself as he could, focusing his near-sighted eyes until he could make out the small lettering. "Made…in…Korin…" he read out loud.

Wait a minute, Korin? That third world kingdom out in the boonies Korin? No, this just couldn't be. It couldn't! He had already been tricked with a collection of naughty pictures—which he needed to take another look at soon, he noted—he couldn't have been fooled again, not by this fake sword! But the more he stared at those damning letters at the sword's base, the more he felt he couldn't deny the truth.

"Not again!"

* * *

><p>"If you would let me continue, I'll explain that," King Kai said. "After feeling like I was doomed to a life of torture and despair, I noticed this odd thing in the cave. It was this place carved right into the cave wall, out of sight of the chamber entrance but right in sight from the stone. It was a gift shop and they were selling replica Zeta Swords."<p>

"You have got to be joking," Videl said.

"Not this time, I'm afraid. So after seeing the shop, I went and bought one of the replicas and shoved it into the stone and left. Then I fled away from the cave and Kai Village and came out here." King Kai relaxed into his chair once more. "I've been living out here ever since."

For what felt like the tenth time that morning, Videl looked pointedly towards Gohan. "And you saw this gift shop too?"

Gohan nodded his head, gulping. "Yeah. But I bought two swords. One I put back in the stone, the other we gave to the old Kai."

King Kai burst out laughing. "You gave that old coot a replica sword? Haha! You are a brave soul, you know that?" Roaring in laughter, he reached over and patted the lad on the back. "You have some major guts, you know that."

Gohan gave a weak smile, scratching the back of his head uneasily. "Thanks, I guess."

"And you didn't tell me this back at the cave, why?" Videl inquired, bringing the focus back to her.

"Well…" at this Gohan began to resemble a kicked puppy. "I didn't want you to have to lie about the sword too, so I made up that story of it being a stalker. I figured if you didn't have any idea about it, then if something went wrong with the exchange, I would be the only one in trouble."

The princess softened her expression. It seemed this guy was always trying to protect her from potential danger. "I see," she finally said, nodding her head in acceptance. Then her face frowned. "But if the sword you broke in the cave was a replica, then where is the real sword?"

"Uhh, hello? I broke the real one," King Kai said, waving a hand towards himself. "Though I wouldn't go telling anyone about that if I were you."

"Are you sure? It was a replica sword that Gohan broke and there's no telling how many people came to that cave between you and him. The old Kai had said many of your people had gone looking for it and with its location painfully obvious, they probably had the same experience you two did. And if the sword broke for one person, it broke for all of the others as well."

"Where are you going with this?"

"You weren't the first person to go looking for the sword too right? And since you and Gohan had the same reaction to breaking the sword, it's very possible that someone also replaced the sword with a replica before you."

This time it was King Kai's turn to jump in his chair. "You make a good point, little lady," he said thoughtfully, one of his hands moving to caress his chin. "So the real sword could be somewhere else."

A stretch of silence enveloped the group. Eventually, the Kai broke it, but did so with a different topic in mind. "Well, it was nice seeing you two. It's time you got going, so good luck on your journey and good-bye!"

The next thing the two youths knew, they were standing on King Kai's welcome mat with his door slamming shut in their faces. "That was…sudden," Gohan commented after awhile.

Videl shrugged her shoulders in answer. "I guess it's time we moved on." Turning around to begin walking away, she came to a sudden stop and frowned. Looking down, her eyes widened as she caught sight of her bare feet and the dress that came from the evil red slippers. "Hey! I'm not wearing any shoes!" she exclaimed. "And why am I still wearing this dress? Shouldn't it have disappeared when the shoes came off?"

Gohan scratched his head. "I hadn't thought about that," he commented. "We're gonna have to get you some shoes I guess."

Videl gave him a look. "Of course we have to get me some shoes. I can't walk like this where ever Erasa leads us to. Knowing her, she's go right through a meadow covered with thorns."

"Maybe King Kai might have some you could use," the young man suggested before his eyes fell on something else, more specifically the picnic basket hanging from the princess' arm. "Hey, maybe something's in the basket."

Videl shifted her attention to the basket. "In this? Why would there be?"

"Well, when you were under those shoes' power, you would bring out a lot of stuff from it. I think you had a few pies in there too if I'm not mistaken."

Shrugging her shoulders, the princess figured there wouldn't be any harm in at least checking. Putting the picnic basket on the ground, she flipped one of the lids up and reached both of her hands in. When she drew them out, a plump beaver sat between her hands, staring at her blandly as its little nose twitched. It took a few seconds for Videl to process this before she announced to the world "What the heck is a beaver doing in my basket?"

It took a few seconds for Gohan to answer her, due to the ringing in his ears. "You were the one to put him in there. You said he was your pet beaver, Woody."

"Why the heck would I name a beaver Woody?"

"…because beavers like wood?"

Videl resisted the urge to clobber the young man, mostly because she'd be hitting him with a beaver and it would be unfair to the beaver to be used as a weapon. Putting the little guy down, she watched as the beaver gave her a big smile and wink, then ambled off to do what little beavers did. Weird…

As she stared at the little woodland critter, she soon felt Gohan's presence next to her, looking into picnic basket curiously. "I wonder if there's anything else in there," he spoke out loud. Not seeing any reason not to, Videl reached in and quickly found several empty pie pans, each with messy remains of pie in it. Tossing them aside without a second thought, Videl continued to dig into the basket. After finding several bundles of flowers, a red and white stripped picnic blanket, a litter of bunnies—which were immediately picked off by a swooping hawk once she had set them on the ground—and a duck feather, the princess let out a squeal of delight as she pulled out the leather bodies from her quote/unquote "peasant clothes." Quickly, she dug in more and found the rest of the ensemble, almost dancing in celebration. Now she wouldn't have to wear this bizarre dress!

What a great day this was becoming.

* * *

><p>To I'm a person: Really? I must be becoming preditable. Time to change things up!<p>

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	36. On Their Way Back

_Year 660_

_Piccolo was suspicious. The brat, it was different. Way too different since he had thrown it at the rock. Instead of the sniveling, bawling creature it had been when the demon had first taken it, it seemed to be a happy, adventurous creature. That contrast was like night and day._

_Piccolo wasn't buying it._

_It had to be an act. There was no way an infant could change its behavior within a week's time. In fact, the child was always looking to him, as if _he_ were its parent. It was disturbing, especially since the brat wasn't from his own loins._

_It had to be a ploy to lower his defenses._

"_What is the matter with you, brat?" the green man demanded, causing the half-pint to flinch. Aha! So he was right; the brat was up to something._

"_I don't know what you mean," the child responded, looking to him with innocent eyes._

"_You know what I speak of. Do you have some 'clever' plan to escape from me? Is that it?"_

_The brat frowned. "What does ezcape mean?"_

_Oh really, was it _trying_ to play dumb? It didn't have to try very hard in Piccolo's book but in order to figure out what was going on in its head, he would just have to play along. "It means to run away. So, are you?"_

_The brat shook its head quickly—maybe a little too fast?—before replying "No, I'm not. Why would I want to run away?"_

_Come now, what did it take him for? Some peasant that was born in a barn the day before? "I am the one who took you from your parents and I know you wish to be reunited with them. So quit this innocent babe act and come clean. You know any attempt will just meet in failure."_

"_But didn't my mommy and daddy give me to you?"_

"_Just tell me al—" Wait, what?_

_Piccolo stared at the child in disbelief. Did this brat truly believe its parents had given it to him? For what, safe keeping? Something wasn't quite right with this whole thing and Piccolo meant to get to the bottom of it. Narrowing his eyes, he then asked "Tell me, what do you know of your parents?"_

_The boy shrugged. "I don't really know anything. When I think of them, all I see are blurs." Pausing, the boy focused its attention on him more intensely. "Does that mean I've been with you a long time?"_

_The boy didn't remember? But how? How was that possible? One day he did nothing but cry for them no matter how much he threatened it, and now he, the Demon Lord Piccolo, was its guardian with the blessing of those parents? None of this was adding up, it was almost as if the brat had completely forgotten it even had parents to cry for. If he didn't know any better, he would have said the brat had amnesia, but that was ridiculous. It would have to take a blow to the…_

_Oh…right. The brat hitting its head on that rock must have been the catalyst for this development. It had been unconscious for two days after all, so perhaps the trauma had wiped its memory clean; well, not completely clean. The brat had acknowledged it remembered having parents, but who they were and what they looked like was beyond it. Hmm…perhaps he could use this to his advantage._

_Turning his attention to the brat, Piccolo was almost surprised to find it still looking at him expectantly, still waiting for an answer to its question. Well, might as well not disappoint it. "Yes, we have been together for awhile."_

_The brat smiled. "So that means we're friends, right?"_

_Uh, no. No it did not. Where the heck did this thing get it into its head that he was its friend? The mysterious mind of a child. "Do not get your hopes up. Now let us keep moving. I grow weary of this place."_

_As if it never noticed his rejection, the brat took off down the path they were on, never looking back at him. Piccolo wasn't sure if this amnesia was a good thing or a bad thing, but he was sure about one thing: at least this was better than having his eardrums burst._

* * *

><p>The day had flown by without much commotion. The sun had traveled across the sky and setted without a whisper. The familiar songs of birds grew quiet as the sky turned from blue to red, orange, and purple and then finally black. Now the familiar chirpings of the crickets could be heard. A quiet and uneventful day, such a rarity in their lives.<p>

And since it was nightfall, Gohan and Videl had stopped to camp out. With a roaring fire burning wood, causing it to snap and pop every so often, the two sat around it, watching the flames dance. It was almost surreal how the day had gone.

Though they seemed content in their leisure, Videl's mind was anything but. Throughout the day she had been considering and reconsidering everything that had gone on since she had blacked out—thankfully—at Kai Village. Naturally, her every thought centered on her travel companion and his telling of the events since. And so far, she could only come up with one thing.

Had she misjudged Gohan?

Ever since she had woken up from a very lovely nap to finding the guy kissing her, she had labeled him a pervert and hadn't given a second thought to it since. The bathhouse had just confirmed her suspicions, despite his every attempt to prove the contrary. Yet, when she was utterly helpless, instead of taking advantage of her he had done everything he could to help her out. That wasn't the reaction she had expected, especially considering the perverts she had encountered on this journey of theirs. Looking to the young man, she studied him for the umpteenth time that day and still, she found herself back at square one—she really had no idea who this Gohan guy was. Well, when one couldn't advance one way, perhaps it was best to try something new.

"Gohan?" she spoke up, drawing his attention to her from across the fire. "I remember you said you've been traveling all your life. Could you tell me more about it?"

The young man stared at her for a moment before replying "There's not much to it, really." One of his hands moved to the back of his head, scratching it as was his habit. "Everyday was pretty much the same."

"But why were you traveling? And why not with your parents?" Videl pressed.

This time Gohan shrugged his shoulders. "My parents gave me to Mr. Piccolo for protection. I don't really know why, I just remember one day being with Mr. Piccolo and it's always been that way."

Protection? Why would Gohan need protection and why would his parents feel that way? Was it possible that Gohan wasn't merely a peasant boy as he always claimed? "Then what of your parents? Surely this danger has passed so you could go back to them."

This time a frown covered his face. "I…don't really remember my parents," he admitted. "I know I have some but I don't know their faces. Every time I've tried to think of them, all I see are these dark blurs. I always figured something bad had happened and my mind didn't want to remember it. There's really not much I remember before I was with Mr. Piccolo."

Videl stared at the lad for a few moments. For every answer she received, she also got several more questions she wanted to ask. How could a simple guy have such a mysterious past? It didn't make sense, yet this trauma involving his parents seemed to hold all the answers. Just looking at him, she couldn't help but feel he had made his peace with the subject, rather than worry about it. Could it be this was part of this "Mr. Piccolo's" child-rearing? "How old were you when you started traveling with this 'Mr. Piccolo'?"

A goofy grin appeared on Gohan's face then. "It was before I was four. I remember that because I remember turning five around Mr. Piccolo."

"You remember your birthday but you don't remember your parents?" Videl asked skeptically.

Another shrug. "There are some things I can't help or change and that is one of them. Life's hard enough as it is without wondering why I remember some things and not others. I don't even know if my parents are alive and if they are, I figured they would've found me and Mr. Piccolo by now to take me back."

A valid point the princess admitted begrudgingly. "Then who is this Mr. Piccolo guy? What's he like?"

The grin came back. "He's a tall guy. And green. He was always grumpy at the beginning. At first he kept me at arm's distance but later he began teaching me stuff, like I've said before. He was like a second father to me."

"And that's why you want to get him out of jail. Cause you care for him."

"Yeah. He would do the same for me." Gohan then chuckled. "Then he would berate me for being dumb enough to be arrested. Probably make me build someone's barn or something."

Videl cocked an eyebrow. "He made you do labor?"

"Yep. Said it would put hair on my chest and make me less of a crybaby."

"What kind of stuff did he make you do?"

"Chores mostly, like getting water from the well or chopping firewood. Sometimes when we would go to a store, he would bargain with the shopkeeper. I would then have to fix up a shed or clean up the store or fix holes in the roof. Once I had to dig a well thirty five feet into the ground before I hit water. I almost drowned too."

Videl was just about to comment on that when Gohan continued his 12 trials. "There was another time I had to climb into a very tall tree in order to get to this beehive and collect some honey. Man, those bees were mad when I did that. I got stung a hundred times and fell out of the tree. And then there was a time Mr. Piccolo used me as a decoy for these really creepy kids that followed us around. I had to hide in a latrine to lose them. Then there were those weird mushrooms Mr. Piccolo wanted me to try. He wasn't sure if they were poisonous and he wanted to make sure."

Videl stared at the lad incredulous. Because of that, she couldn't help but say "And you want to get him out of prison why?"

Gohan laughed at that. "I know, he doesn't seem like the best guy to raise a kid, but he meant well. I think."

The princess couldn't help but chuckle at that. "How does a guy like that earn such loyalty?" she asked with a grin.

"He was there when he didn't have to be. Raised me when it probably would've been easier to dump me in some village or even on the side of the road somewhere. I don't know why he decided to keep me around, or what he even gave up to stay with me, but it's something I don't think I'll ever forget. And Mr. Piccolo isn't someone who would hold it over my head either. He would have been just fine if I had decided to leave one day and never come back." Gohan paused for a moment. "I think that's why I want to help him when he's in trouble."

Videl studied the young man as he mulled around in his thoughts. Perhaps there was some merit in not rushing to judgment. Already, this talk had improved her opinion of this guy, this humble, sweet guy. Allowing her first impression to cloud her bias had caused her to treat him no better than Sharpner and the blond actually deserved the scorn directed at him. One of these days, she needed to apologize. "You know, when I first met you, I never would have thought you were capable of such depth."

With another head scratch, Gohan replied "I don't know about that."

"No really. I thought you were just some pervert trying to get frisky with me," Videl tried to explain. "Then meeting Sharpner didn't improve my opinion of you—or him for that matter. So I lumped you two together and didn't change my mind for awhile. But I can see now that you're not Sharpner—thank Kami—just a guy who really wants to help someone in need." Pausing to swallow, the princess mentally prepared herself for what would come next. "I think I owe you an apo…an apo…"

"An apron?

"No, not that, an—"

"An apothecary jar?"

"Huh? What the heck is that?"

"It's a…well, I don't really know. It was just something that popped in my head."

"Gohan, shush." Trying her best to forget that tangent had happened, Videl tried to proceed with what she tried to say before it. "I was trying to say an apology."

"Huh? What do you need to apologize for?

"Well, I wasn't the friendliest person then and I'm pretty sure I caused you some trouble so I just wanted to apologize for it."

"Oh. Okay. Uhh, apology accepted?"

Videl had the sneaky suspicion that Gohan had no idea why she was apologizing, but decided that she'd let that go. There really wasn't any reason to start a debate over it. Instead, she chose to look up into the sky and stare at the billions of stars twinkling in the black backdrop of the night. She had never been a person to admire stars, but at that moment she really had to admit that the people who did indulge in the act were treated to a beautiful sight tonight. Or perhaps every night, she didn't know.

"So, what was it like for you growing up?" Gohan suddenly asked, catching her off guard. From the day they had met, Gohan had rarely asked about her past, something she had been glad about at the time. She hadn't been in the mood to share her personal memories with commoners after all.

"I lived with my parents for a few years," the princess began, digging into her memory. "It had been nice from what I can remember. My mother would brush my hair and play dress up with me some times, and my father would bounce me around on his lap when he wasn't busy. They used to have servants that would teach me how to be a proper lady, but that all changed." Pausing for a moment, she collected her thoughts before continuing. "We were a minor house—still are a minor house, I suppose—but it was a happy life. That was until news reached us of one of the Higher Houses losing a child of their own. My father went crazy when he heard about it and put me in that castle you found me in. It was only to be for a short while, but the older I got, the more paranoid my father became. Suitors had been arriving at his castle, asking for my hand in marriage when I came of age and in order to make sure I wasn't taken without his consent, he kept me at my castle."

"It sounds like you were alone a lot."

This time, it was Videl's turn to shrug. "I had grown used to it by then. I had lived by myself for so long, I began thinking it was normal for people to start living in their own castles. In fact, when I first moved it, I did want to live in the highest tower there." This time a small smile appeared on her face. "If you had stopped by then, you would've been correct to check there first." Seeing a similar grin on the young man's face, Videl continued on. "But I changed my mind very quickly when I got tired of climbing all of those stairs every day. That's why you found me in that room close to the dinning hall.

"Then one day, Erasa showed up. At the time, she had been looking for a castle of her own and I helped her out. Well…tried to help. I hadn't really explored the lands surrounding my castle and I just pointed in a random direction. Apparently I got lucky that Erasa found that tower of hers there. But then, she wouldn't stop visiting. She always wanted me to teach her how to be a lady, what proper etiquette was, and what ever else I knew on how to be a princess. It was alright in the beginning, but she stared to annoy me after awhile. So I tried to put more traps out in that field but no matter what I did, she found a way around them."

Videl stopped for a moment before looking curiously towards Gohan. "That reminds me, how the heck did you get through all of those traps?"

"I have good eyes; I just looked for signs of dugged-up dirt and avoided those spots. And I stayed away from the grass. Though Sharpner did trigger that last trap of yours at the bridge."

Videl waved that one off. "That one was Daddy's. He figured someone wouldn't expect one last trap like that at the end. Apparently it only works on idiots since you and Erasa avoided it easily."

"I don't know, that was a good last trap," Gohan admitted readily. "But then, I don't know if I would've started posing like Sharpner did."

Videl giggled at that. "Idiot," she murmured good-naturedly, following that with a yawn. "I think it's time we went to bed."

Gohan nodded his head in affirmation, standing up to retrieve their blankets. Deciding to meet him halfway, Videl stood up and walked towards the lad, sitting back down where the heat from the fire was at a comfortable level. As she removed her bodice and boots, Gohan appeared next to her, dropping down next to her as he handed her a blanket.

As soon as the young lad had situated himself on the ground, Videl closed the space between them as she shifted her blanket on top of her. This earned her a curious look from Gohan, to which she replied "We end up next to each other anyways, I figured why not cut to the chase?" Nodding his head in understanding, Gohan relaxed soon after. Laying down herself, the princess had to admit she enjoyed the extra warmth she received from the young man. It was sad to say, but she was becoming addicted to it. It would be one of the things she would miss when this journey ended.

Now there was a sobering thought. When this whole thing ended, she would have to go back to her castle and wait for what fate would be brought upon her. It saddened her to think that she probably wouldn't see Gohan after this, especially now that she was beginning to enjoy this young man's company. Sure he would probably see her back to her home, but then they would part and that would be it. The only thing she would have to look forward to would be when her father came to inform her that he had arranged a marriage for her and she would then spend her final days being the lady of what ever house she ended up in.

And it was these thoughts that made her wish that she weren't the princess she was. That she was a commoner and had an actual choice. Never mind that arranged marriages did happen amongst the common folk, at least she stood a chance at having her own ending rather than someone else's.

Wait a second, who the hell said she couldn't have her own ending? She was a person wasn't she? She could do what ever bloody hell she wanted to and there was no one that could stop her. If she wanted to travel across the kingdom, she could and would. If she wanted to get down and dirty, she would do it with glee. If she wanted to bed a man, there wasn't a soul that could tell her no. That wasn't to say she wanted to do that last part, but you get the gist of it.

Yet, she had done all of these things and each one involved the man lying next to her. That had been a stroke of luck now that she thought about it. The one guy she could absolutely trust to not take advantage of her, even when she had been intoxicated and had her way with him. All of these things she had once thought she would never do in her lifetime were happening now. But now, she wanted to do them, not because she had been dragged off by someone else's will. Somewhere along the way from her castle, this journey had gone from one she had begrudgingly joined to one she was fully invested in. And she had gotten dirty thanks to that crazy Launch woman. And she had—

Hmm…no, she hadn't done that last thing on her own. That was because of that creepy cup. Well, she could do that some other time. No sense in rushing something like that—again—just to prove a point.

Letting out a small sigh, she snuggled into her bedmate. Tomorrow would be a brand new day for her, she would make sure of that. Gone would be the moody princess and in her stead someone that would actually be pleasant to be around. At least that's what she told herself. She would just have to put a smile on her face, a skip in her step, and try and see the world optimistically.

Why did she get the feeling that was easier said than done?

* * *

><p>To Anonymous Void: Use your imagination on that one. The possibilities are endless.<p>

To I'm a person: Sharpner was just dropped, repeatedly, on his head lol. It takes more hits to get that idiotic.

To bvprincess23 for Chapter 34: Just a running joke lol. The Kais aren't as peaceful as you would think/You think Average Joes know about shoe fashion?

To bvprincess23 for Chapter 35: Or get thrown at something. There isn't a Gohan/Piccolo friendship without Piccolo throwing Gohan at something lol/Once again, that's up to your imagination. Have fun with that!/Not too sure about Beaver names. Beavery maybe?

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	37. They Ran into the Witch

_Year 472_

_After all of this time, all of this searching, all of the pain, suffering, sweating, and bleeding, he had finally found it. He, a Kai who was given the first name of King, had finally located the resting place of a legendary sword, the fabled Zeta Sword._

_His only regret was that he hadn't searched for the bright neon lights in front of the cave in the first place._

_With his favorite illumination spell lighting his way, King Kai stumbled through the cave until he reached a room in the back, there he saw a large stone, the sword resting in it. After searching this mountain range for who knows how long, the sword was within his grasp and he could finally go home, a hero, a legend, and ultimately be crowned the funniest Kai in the world. After all, everyone laughed at a hero's jokes and believe him, a lot of those jokes weren't funny at all._

_However, he was genuinely a funny man, so when he would crack a joke, it would be a funny one, one worth laughing at. All of those other charlatan funny guys would have to kiss his big, blue bottom after this if they ever wanted to be funny again._

_Approaching the sword, King Kai couldn't help but feel he was trekking across sacred ground, a place where only those who were worthy would be allowed to set foot here. Seeing as that no booby traps had been sprung suddenly, King Kai was of the mind that he was considered worthy. That was his proof and he was sticking with it._

_As he came closer to the sword, the Kai soon saw a sign sitting nearby. Taking a moment to read the words "__**Thou who seek out the power of the fabled Zeta Sword must prove thyself worthy of its power. Thou must commit thyself to a feat of strength and remove the sword from the stone from whence it rests. May Fortune smile upon thee and we vow to refrain from laughing too hard as thou fails epically," **__King Kai was taken aback. So they thought he was a failure, huh? Well he would show them! No one laughed at King Kai without him making them laugh! Spitting on his hands and rubbing them together, the Kai grabbed the sword hilt and pulled with all of his might._

_He never expected the sword to come flying out of the stone, causing him to lose his balance and fall onto his butt. Unfortunately, his momentum was so great his body kept falling backwards, causing him to hit the back of his head on the ground. Lying still for a moment, King Kai then dropped the sword in his hands and grabbed the back of his head, rolling around on the ground as he spoke unintelligible curses._

_Damn it, that hurt! Why the hell did that sword have to come out so easily? Huh? Wasn't it supposed to be locked in that stupid rock or something? Kai almighty, what he wouldn't give for some pain killers! Ugh!_

_As the pain began to subside, King Kai looked up, finding the lettering on the sign had changed. __**"You should've seen the look on your face!"**__ it read, and beneath that __**"Priceless!"**__ This caused the smarting Kai to growl in annoyance._

"_Oh, so you think you're a comedian too huh? Well, I have the sword! Ha! Showed you didn't I?"_

_Instead of getting a sense of superiority, King Kai watched as the lettering changed, bringing down what ever sense of pride he had. __**"You just got lucky. The guys before you probably loosened it up."**_

"_Oh yeah? Well how about this!" King Kai shouted as he leapt to his feet, picking up the sword and swinging it over his head as he rushed the sign. With a mighty swing, he brought the all-powerful sword down on the hapless sign, expecting it to be sliced in half like…well, a sword through paper._

_Instead of that satisfying outcome occurring, the sword snapped in two, causing King Kai's eyes to bulge out at the broken halves. What the? A legendary sword wasn't supposed to break on the first swing! It wasn't supposed to break at all! The sign should have been decimated, not mocking him still!_

"_**Epic fail!"**_

_Blast that sign! It wasn't enough that it was mocking him, but it was right! And now all he had was the left over pieces of a useless piece of scrap metal. Oh why did he have to find this place? Why didn't he listen to his mother and become a dentist? He wouldn't be in this mess if he had just listened to her!_

"_**You should have listened to your mother,"**__ the sign agreed._

_Oh great, now the sign was trying to sound like his mother. Already he could hear her nasally voice reprimanding him because he had gone all gung ho and acted like a macho man despite his funny man motive. Did this humiliation ever end? What could he do now that his quest had crashed and burned like a forest fire? He was in so much trouble that he doubted he could…he could…_

_What the hell was that?_

_Looking towards the cave entrance, King Kai frowned at a bizarre-looking cave formation. Towards a corner of the chamber, completely out of sight from the door but perfectly viewable from the stone that use to hold an all-powerful sword, what looked like a store front was chiseled into the cave wall. There was no door as the entrance opened up into a store, a sign above the entrance announcing in big, bold letters __**GIFT SHOP**__._

_Immediately, King Kai shot over to the gift shop and peaked in. All over the place was merchandise associated with the Zeta Sword, ranging from T-Shirts to cups, shoes, watches, figurines, posters, books, and statues. However, all of that became secondary when he noticed at the far wall something that filled him with relief._

_Barrels and barrels filled with replica Zeta Swords._

_Hurrying over to the replica swords, King Kai pulled one out and began inspecting it, feeling renewed hope with each passing second. From what he could tell, the sword looked exactly like the now broken Zeta Sword, all except for that little lettering in the base._

_A soft coughing caught the Kai's attention, causing him to whip around and look at a short, fat man with long shaggy hair. "You gonna pay for that?" the man questioned impassively, sounding as if he didn't care if he did so or not._

"_Uhh, why yes! In fact I was gonna pay right now!" King Kai said loudly, pulling out his money bag_—he would be damned if he ever called it a purse!—_and approaching the fat man. Handing over some gold coins, the man studied the currency, nodded his head with approval, and gruffly said "Enjoy your sword, don't do anything I wouldn't do." Turning his head, he then hocked a loogie, much to King Kai's disgust._

"_I don't think I even want to know what he wouldn't do," the Kai muttered to himself as he hastily left with the sword. Approaching the stone, he then looked around to make sure no one was around and quickly forced the sword into the stone. Swinging himself around, King Kai than walked as nonchalantly as he could, whistling a tune only he knew._

_All the while, the sign behind him had once again changed its lettering. __**"What a moron."**_

* * *

><p>Gohan watched in wonder at the sight in front of him. Never would he thought he would see something like this come to pass, even in his wildest dreams, not that he had wild dreams to base this off of.<p>

Videl was smiling. And humming. Truly an unusual combo.

Not that he was complaining. Most of the time the princess seemed aloof with her surroundings. Like she wanted nothing more than for this whole quest to be over and done with. But looking at her now, Gohan almost swore as if the girl was enjoying herself. What chapter that character development happened in, he wasn't sure, but it was definitely a nice change from what it used to be.

At that moment, Videl suddenly turned her head towards him, giving him a big smile as her eyes lit up. That had been the third time she had done that all day and every time it filled Gohan's stomach with a warm, fuzzy feeling, as if he were the one behind the princess' good mood. Maybe he was the reason, but he had no clue as to why. It wasn't as if they were any different than the day before. Well, being direct seemed to work best on her, so this instance shouldn't be any different.

"Hey Videl?" the young man called out, causing the girl to slow down her pace as she continued to look at him. "I couldn't help but notice you're in a really good mood today."

"Hm? Why yes, I am," she replied. "Is something wrong?"

"Umm well…what brought that on suddenly? Not that I didn't like it, but it's…sudden."

Videl turned her head forward maintaining her pace, her body language not changing the least bit. "I just feel like it. I did some thinking last night and I felt as if I wanted today to be different, more pleasant. I know I haven't been the easiest person to be around since we met and I want to change that. It's getting tiring being crabby and unfriendly all of the time."

Hmm, that made sense. Though what made her start thinking this way, he still had no clue. "So what made you think about these things?"

This time Videl gave him a thoughtful look, one that he wasn't quite familiar with. "During that whole shoe fiasco, you did your best to take care of me. If you were to tell me beforehand that this would happen and you wouldn't take advantage of me, I would've laughed and called you an idiot. I really didn't trust you then so I figured you would've tried to get back at me for any perceived wrong I may have done to you."

Upon seeing Gohan about to react to that, Videl held up her hand to stop him. "Just hear me out, please? This isn't easy for me to admit." Frowning slightly, Gohan just nodded his head for her to continue. "From the time we met, I assumed you were just another guy, a pervert that wanted to get underneath my skirt. So when you took me to King Kai's and removed those shoes, well, I felt like I needed to do some soul searching, so to speak. And I think I can say that you're a better person than I first thought."

"Thanks?"

A small smile appeared on her face, one of her hands moving up to shift a few strand of hair from her face. "I see that I've confused you."

"Just a bit," Gohan admitted, scratching the back of his head. "So…does this mean we're friends?"

This time the princess looked shyly at him. That was an unfamiliar expression, especially from her. Though it did bring back that warm fuzzy feeling again. "Well, against my better judgment, yes."

Huh? Why was she so reluctant when she had just confessed her thoughts? Shouldn't this be a simple yes or no answer? "So why is it against your better judgment?"

"Because of who we are. You're an everyday peasant and I'm an upper class princess. There are entire libraries that explicitly say that we shouldn't mingle. My father owns two of them in fact. Yet despite our upbringings, you've been so nice to me and even helped me when I was in trouble." Videl paused for a moment. "I've become fond of you because of that."

Gohan didn't know how to respond to that. This was one of those emotional thingies that Sharpner had told him all about. Though if he remembered the blond's advice on it, the young man felt that he shouldn't repeat any of those things. The nice atmosphere between him and the princess would most surely end with flames, blood, and probably castration were he to mention any of it. So what did one do in these situations?

"Umm…I'm…fond of you too," Gohan tried, hoping he was saying the right thing. Apparently he had guessed right as a blush appeared on the princess' face. Sweet, now he wouldn't be castrated!

"Well I'm not fond of you whatsoever!" a voice suddenly shouted, interrupted their tender moment.

Videl whipped around, an enraged expression on her face. "No one asked you!" she bellowed, horns suddenly sprouting out of her head as a devil-tipped tail whipped about angrily behind her. Apparently the princess did not like having her moments ruined.

Warily keeping an eye on his pissed-off princess, Gohan looked at their intruder and found an old lady in a black robe who was giving him the evil eye. Huh, wonder who that could be.

"Like I care," the old woman retorted. "Besides, I'm not interested in some sappy teen drama. I have come for revenge on the boy next to you and if you get in my way, I'll make sure you suffer his fate."

Staring at the old crone, there was only one thing Gohan could say to her. "Umm, who are you?"

The old woman fell flat on her face upon hearing that. Lying there for a moment, she suddenly flung her head up and began shouting at the young man. "How dare you forget about me, you clod! I am the Great Witch Baba and you owe me a new mailbox!"

Sirens went off in Gohan's head. Crap, crap, crap! What the heck was Baba doing all the way out here? Shouldn't she be stomping around in her little candy house instead of hunting him down? "Baba?" Videl spoke up, much to Gohan's horror. "That name sounds familiar."

Back on her feet, Baba seemed to look pleased at that statement. "Well, I am a very powerful witch. My magic is second to none in all the kingdoms so naturally I am a household name. A true celebrity in all the lands!"

That was when Videl's head perked up, though it was for something other than the witch's claim. "Now I remember! You were the one that put a curse on Launch!"

"…who?"

Deciding not to enter the conversation between Videl and Baba, Gohan began looking about his surroundings. They had entered a forest earlier in the day, but now that Baba was right in front of him, the young man couldn't help but think most of the trees here looked very familiar, especially since they looked to be wilting from the marshland a stone's throw away. In fact, he was pretty sure he had been running at the time since he and Sharpner were leaving this place quickly. Oh…he and Videl had walked back into Baba's Woods, hadn't they? Wrinkling his nose in disgust about their unaware trekking into hostile territory, not to mention the fumes from that nearby swamp, Gohan had to wonder if they should've followed Erasa's trail in here.

However, due to his thoughts, Gohan was oblivious to the heated conversation going on between the women around him. Apparently, they're association with each had fallen into an outhouse and neither one wanted to reach in and dig it out. "You petulant, little girl!" Baba shouted. "You should learn to respect your elders! Why, I could put you into a never ending sleep with the snap of my fingers! And to ensure no handsome prince comes around to kiss you awake, I'll mangle your pretty face to badly, not even your mother could stand the sight of you!"

"So you want to make me look like you?" Videl shot back.

"Exact—" Baba started to say, quickly stopping when she realized the backhanded insult. "Hey! My mother loved the way I looked! I was voted the most beautiful woman in all the lands five times in a row I'll have you know!"

"More like you'd break every mirror in all the lands just by looking into them!" Videl retorted. "I'm sure you've got several hundred years worth of bad luck by now!"

Baba smirked at that. "Jokes on you, I haven't needed a mirror in two hundred years."

"Just two hundred? I'm surprised it's only been that long since you look older than dirt!"

"Hey, hey, hey," Gohan interrupted. "Can't we all just get along?"

"NO!" Baba and Videl shouted simultaneously at him. Cowering away from the two, Gohan's meek actions ensured he wouldn't be trying anything dumb like pacifying their verbal sparing match. In fact, he was looking for the nearest hiding place he could find so these two could fight out it out and destroy the surrounding area if they felt like it. With the way things were going, that conclusion was just inevitable.

"So you think you can take me little girl?" Baba said menacingly. "Well, you're in for a rude awakening. You're a thousand years too young to defeat me and I'll prove it!" Raising her hands up, she began waving them about, her fingers rapidly flexing at random. "Rise dead men from your silent sleep, rise dead men from your graves and leap!"

The sky began to darken as a strong wind began blowing around the three. Serious expressions were on the dark-haired couple as they stared down the witch as a crackling blue aura appeared around her old form. "Rise dead men and feast on flesh, rise dead men and moan and retch!"

A tremor began to shake the ground beneath their feet, but that didn't last long as random places along the trail burst upwards, dirt and dust flying high into the air. Low moans began to assault their ears, alerting them all that they weren't alone in these woods. Yet despite these theatrics, nothing threatening appeared from the broken pieces of earth. Looking at one spot to another, a vein began to grow on Baba's forehead, throbbing with each passing second. "Alright you lazy oafs! Come out already!"

The moans came to a stop as movement occurred by the trees nearest to the swamp. Soon, large, bulky creatures made of moss, algae, sticks, slime, and other marshy goodness appeared, staggering out from the tree line and surrounding the three. "Sorry about that," one of them said to Baba in a surprisingly normal voice, sounding quite sheepish about the whole thing. "We would've climbed out of the ground like you asked, but we all had to use the bathroom so we didn't have to go later."

"Fine, fine, whatever," Baba waved off irritably. "Just attack these annoyances already."

"Yes Ma'am!" A chorus of moan started up again, the faceless, awkward-moving, dripping, reeking monstrosities began closing in on the dark-haired couple. Looking at them as quickly as he could, Gohan immediately felt that this wasn't the place he and Videl should've been at the moment. The other side of the kingdom would've been more preferable. Since that wasn't an option at the moment, Gohan quickly ran through all of his other choices, crossed off any he felt were useless at this point, weighed the likelihood of success and failure on the others, and finally came to a successful course of action.

Scooping Videl into his arms, he took off running, flying through a gap between two swamp creatures, and racing off down the trail. Moving closer to where the two had last been standing, the swamp creatures stopped moments later and then slowly turned to look off where Gohan had raced off to.

It was a full minute later when one of them said "That guy's fast."

* * *

><p>Alright, I've gotten three comments about this, so I figured I'd head off the rest of y'all. At the end, Gohan is simply running, not using his RUN AWAY spell. I hope that helps.<p>

To I'm a person: Naps are always nice. In fact, I think I'll go have one now.

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	38. And Were Saved by Her Former Student

It wasn't often Gohan found himself carrying something when he was running. Most of the time his arms would be swinging at his sides, maintaining his balance. This time, was obviously different. In his arms he had Videl, one arm beneath her knees and the other pressed against her back. Bouncing and shifting with every step he took, about the only thing that kept the princess from falling out of his arms was her arms wrapped around his neck, hanging on for dear life. When he had first picked her up, Gohan had been sure she would've protested, but apparently she was serious when she said she wanted to change her outlook on life since she hadn't uttered a single word since their escape.

Either that or her princess training was kicking in since all of those stories tell of distressing damsels always being cooperative when being rescued.

Feeling Videl moving in his arms, exhaling air on his neck as she turned her head to look behind them, she said "I think we got away." Taking that as his cue, Gohan slowed down until he came to a stop, still holding on the the dark-haired girl. After a few moments, she said "You can put me down when ever you're ready."

"Oh, right," Gohan responded slightly embarrassed. Dropping his arm that held her legs, he lowered the princess onto the ground, Videl releasing her hold on him as she righted herself. Taking a look around, the young man felt a sense of relief fill him as he saw they were just about out of the forest, the trees thinning and opening to large fields of grass. That was some really good news for the two of them.

"There they are!" a voice suddenly shouted, though faintly. Jerking their heads to look behind them, the swamp creatures were trudging after them, one of them carrying Baba on its shoulder. How they heck had they caught up with them so fast? Hadn't they been left in their dust?

Immediately, Gohan felt his arms being filled once more, Videl leaping back into her previous position as her arms wrapped around his neck. "Run for it, Gohan!" she shouted, slightly panicked. Not needing anymore prompting, Gohan began running once more, heading into the wide expanses of grass, the dirt path cutting through it like a serpent.

"What does it take to lose these guys?" he heard Videl exclaim, a sentiment he whole-heartedly agreed with. Feeling her eyes focus on him, she then asked "What did you do to make her so mad?"

Gohan shrugged his shoulders, causing the princess to rise and fall with them. "Me and Sharpner just saved a bunch of people from being scammed by her. She had already scammed us and we saw her doing the same thing to a bunch of other people."

The young man could already feel the skeptical look being aimed at him. "You I can see trying to help someone out, but Sharpner? Sorry if I'm having a hard time seeing that one."

"Well, he was there mostly to get his money back. He paid her with a large gold nugget and he really wanted it back."

"He had gold on him? How? I didn't see any pockets on him so how did he keep it on him?"

"…you really don't want to know."

"Don't give me that. You and I both know he's dirt poor and there's no way he keeps any money on him. He keeps getting robbed everytime he does!"

"Seriously Videl, you don't want to know."

"Just tell me Gohan."

"…he kept it up his butt."

Videl was silent for a moment. "I really didn't need to know that."

"I told you you didn't."

"Hey, don't you 'I told you so' me."

"But I did."

A lightning bolt suddenly came out of nowhere, striking the ground a small distance away from them, causing dirt the explode high into the sky. Looking at the blast, their eyes bulging out of their sockets, Gohan unconsciously began putting on more speed. Just great, Baba was throwing magic at them now. This just couldn't get—

Videl suddenly glared at him. "Don't you dare think 'this just couldn't get any worse'."

Startled, Gohan looked at the girl. "But how did you—?"

"I could see it on your face. Now quit asking dumb questions and get us out of here!"

Gulping, a new thought suddenly popped into Gohan's head. "What if Baba does another one of those spells? I can't outrun a lightning bolt if it lands right on top of us."

Videl fell silent for a few moments, not something Gohan found very comforting. That changed when the princess finally said "I can put up a shield for us, but I don't know how long it'll last. That witch probably has more powerful magics—"

"Just do it," Gohan interrupted. "It'll at least give us some protection, maybe buy us enough time to get help."

Nodding her head, Videl began gathering her magical energies, her eyes closing to help her concentration. Extending them outside of her body, she spoke the spell's name so softly one had to wonder whether she said anything at all. More obvious was her eyes as they shot open, an intensity akin to a hawk's eyes gleaming from them. A white, heavenly glow appeared over their heads, forming into a dome. It turned out to be in the knick of time as another bolt of lightning crashed down upon it, the echo of thunder ringing in their ears as sparks flew in all directions. Yet the shield held firm.

The two youths tilted their heads towards each other, each giving a small smile. That was all they would give themselves as Videl returned her focus back to the shield to maintain it, Gohan concentrating on running as fast as he could. Already he was calling upon his spell of last resort to get them out of there and end this chase.

And that was when their luck turned against them. Changing tactics, Baba fired a giant fireball high into the air, the spell arching and falling towards the fleeing couple. With greater force than the previous lightning bolt, the fireball slammed down on top of the shield, detonating for additional damage. The force of the explosion crushed Videl's shield, exposing the two to the flames and forcing them into the ground. Fortunately, Gohan managed to fall on top of the princess and shield her from as much of the damage as he could. Ugh, he was gonna be feeling this one in the morning.

As sudden as the flames had appeared, they had vanished, leaving a large cloud of smoke to rise into the sky, dissipating all around them. Coughing, the youths just lied where they were, trying to recover from the impact. Unfortunately, they gave Baba and her swamp minions all the time they needed to stroll on over and surround them, looking down on them as if they were insects needing to be squashed.

"You gave us quite a run," Baba spoke, looking down on them from her perch. "But like all things, you must meet your end. I can't say I'll miss you or even put flowers on your grave, but I can guarantee you I'll look on you fondly as examples of what happens to people who defy me." Looking to one of her creatures, she then said "Crush 'em Charlie."

"Charlie? But my name's Bob," the creature said. Pointing one of its moldy fingers at one of its fellows, it then said "That's Charlie."

"Whatever Willy, just kill them already."

"But I have a name—"

"You soon won't have a body if you don't do as I say! Now kill them already!" Baba shouted. "Kami, you just had to ruin my moment, didn't you? I looked so cool ordering you around and you just had to nitpick about a name. I mean seriously, you all look the same!"

All of the creatures looked at Baba, staring her down with their identically nonexistent faces. "Alright, alright, you don't look the same," the witch reluctantly relented. "Can you just kill these two already?"

"Two dead people coming right up!" one of the swamp creatures said, moving next to the dark-haired youths, raising one of its legs up high, ready to smash them into pulp.

Then out of nowhere a stream of fire covered it, the creation disappearing into the flames for a moment, reappearing when the blast of fire ended and leaving the swamp creature burning. Lowering its leg, the creature looked at one of its burning hands and said "Huh, I'm on fire." A moment later and realization clicked in its head. "OH SWEET POPO, I'M ON FIRE!" it screamed, running around randomly as it hoped a miracle would somehow put out the flames. Ultimately, that miracle never came as the swamp creature collapsed into a pile of burning swamp material.

"Hey! Who did that?" Baba roared, looking around for the sudden attacker. Apparently the witch was losing her vision as Gohan and Videl looked up and immediately found their savior standing in the open as the crone continued to look about wildly.

"Baba, what are you doing out of your woods?" the man demanded warily. He was a tall, bald man, and he didn't seem pleased at all to see the old crone. "You know the terms of your banishment."

Those words immediately helped the old woman hone in on the man. "You! What are you doing here? Go bother some other witch! I have business with these two miscreants!"

"There is not any other witch to bother since they are not violating their sentences. I would have thought your first exile would have straightened you out, but it seems a second one clearly is not enough."

Baba scowled at this. "It's not my fault that village was full of idiots that didn't understand my power. You should be thanking me for weeding out the gene pool."

"You turned them into cats and dogs and let them fight each other. Half of them ended up dead because of you. That is why you have been restricted to the Witch's Forest. Do not make me report your latest trespass."

"Is that all you are? A bald-headed tattle-tell," Baba shot back. "I had expected better from you Tien, but I see you are just another disappointing pupil."

The man called Tien narrowed his eyes—all three of them—at the witch. "Sorry, but I am not one to casually dismiss the law when it is inconvenient. Now return to your forest and leave those two with me. If they have caused you trouble, I will deal with them myself."

Scowling this time, Baba shot back "This is my business and my business alone. Go play policeman somewhere else or I guarantee you will suffer my wrath. Already these two have unraveled not one, but two of my business propositions—"

"You mean one of your scams."

"…business propositions, and I will see to it that they do not go without punishment. Now back off!"

Tien scowled right back at Baba. "So you are after petty revenge. That I cannot stand by and watch. Back away from those two or I will have to use force." At this a small unit of men emerged from behind the three-eyed man, almost as if they rose from the ground itself. Most likely this Tien guy was standing at the edge of a hill and his men had just walked up to stand right behind him, but regardless, it made quite a scene. "You two, remove yourselves from this witch's company."

A growl came from Baba as she leapt from her swamp creature's shoulder, landing on the dirt path in between them and Tien. "You will have to go through me if you want them alive," she threatened.

With a stoic expression on his face, Tien merely raised his hand up, two of his fingers extended. "Move," he said, quickly moving his two fingers back and forth. The next thing Gohan and Videl knew, they were lying on the ground behind the man, surrounding by his soldiers instead of those sticky monsters. Blinking, the two looked about them quickly, trying to make sure they were actually where they thought they were. "Men, take out the Witch's creations, but make no move against the Witch herself. I will deal with her personally," he ordered. Then without looking, he spoke to Gohan "Lad, are you able to stand? Do so if you can."

Shaking off his bewilderment, Gohan climbed onto his feet, helping Videl to hers a moment later. "Good; now take this," Tien said, pulling out his sword and handing it to Gohan. "Use it to protect yourself and the girl if need be. Now stand back."

"You insignificant child! How dare you!" Baba shouted as her stubby arms flew above her head. A swirling pink and purple light enveloped her hands before she flung them in front of her, firing her spell. Letting out a war cry, Tien leapt towards the spell, thrusting his left arm out with his middle and index finger extended up and his thumb extended to a side, forming an L with them as his ring and pinky fingers curled in. Thrusting his hand palm first, the magical blast rammed into it, a struggle occurring between the two. As veins began appearing all over his head, Tien let out another cry before he cancelled out Baba's spell, causing it to disintegrate into harmless smoke.

Holding her pose, the old crone growled in rage before summoning black flames around her hands. "Dark flames of the western sun, burn my foe from head to toe!" she chanted as she drew her arms back, then threw them one at a time in front of her, launching her evil looking fireballs at the three-eyed man.

Instantly, Tien had both of his hand in front of him, fingers slightly bent and palms open as he fired a counterspell. "Dark oceans of the seven seas, crush my foe before me!" A torrent of water fired from his hands, hitting the black flames head on and extinguishing just as quickly. The water blast raced towards Baba, who merely summoned a shield and blocked the attack.

"Not a bad counter," she commented. "But it's too slow to use as a weapon. Now this," she paused as chunks of rock and soil burst from the ground, hovering all around the witch. "This would have been a more effective counter!"

Focusing on the rocks around the witch, Tien never noticed the grass at his feet rapidly grow, wrapping around his legs before the blades bent their pointed heads and stabbed into the man's thighs. Letting out a hiss of pain, Tien looked down at the restraining vegetation, allowing Baba to fire all of her floating rocks and dirt clumps at him. "Dark earth of the sleeping mother, smite my foe like none other!" she cried out. Fortunately for Tien, his third eye caught the tactic—not to mention his ears—giving him all the time in the world to summon his own shield and block the flying earth. "And how was that a better counter?" he shot back at the witch.

"Well for one, I could've used any of those rocks as a shield to stop my fireballs," Baba replied. "Secondly, I could've fired them off at any time I wanted. Thirdly, these are only a decoy for you, my bald-headed friend."

It took Tien only a moment to realize what the witch meant and at the end of that moment, he warped his shield into a complete dome, surrounding him on all sides and resting on the ground. A bolt of lightning crashed on top of his shield a second later, telling the man he had reacted correctly.

"Don't think you've won just yet!" Baba shouted at him. "Dark thunder of quivering skies, strike my foe until he dies!" This time, a much larger bolt of lightning flashed from the skies, slamming into Tien's shield and causing his legs to buckle from the sudden force. Straining, Tien poured more of his magical energies into sustaining his shield, weathering the blast successfully once more. However, he didn't wait around for the witch to strike out at him again. "Burning winds of the southern desert, blast my foe until she hurts!" Around the three-eyed man, swirling flames circled around him and shot high into the air, forming a column of flames. Vegetation all around the pillar of fire withered and died, the heat reducing it all into ash. This included the blades of grass wrapped around Tien's legs, freeing him from their grasp.

Baba, however, didn't counter this spell, merely crossing her arms over her chest as she looked on unimpressed. "You can stop the theatrics already," she called out calmly. "You and I both know that spell has no offensive capabilities."

"But it serves for a very good distraction."

Baba's head jerked to a side, her eyes widening as she saw Tien standing nearby, his body standing straight with his hands held up in front of him. The tips of his fingers were touching each other at an angle with his thumb tips touching much lower, forming a triangle. "I lack the time to be playing with you, Teacher," Tien said stoically. "This fight ends now."

His face then twisted into a look of strained rage. "Tribeam Ha!"

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, as Tien and Baba battled it out magically, Tien's men and Baba's swamp creatures had engaged in an all-out battle.<p>

With Gohan and Videl stuck right in the middle.

Ever since the two forces had begun clashing, Videl had froze up, much like Gohan had when he and Mr. Piccolo had been attacked. Thankfully, Gohan hadn't frozen too, hoisting the smaller girl up with one arm—the other had a sword after all—and dashing around the battle, avoiding as many unnecessary fights as possible.

Which would be all of them.

Frantically looking around as one of Tien's soldier's hacked one of the swamp creatures to pieces, another soldier in a stalemate with another creature, Gohan tried to pick out where the edge of the battlefield was. If he could get him and Videl there, they could easily escape this frenzy of violence.

Taking a quick look down, the young man saw Videl's blank face, her eyes wide like a doll's. Yep, no change there. It was a shame really, they could've used the princess' spells to keep them safe, but there was just no helping that at the moment. With fights all around, it would have been a very bad idea to try and restore her senses. All it took was one of the swamp creatures to fall on them, or a random sword swing at the wrong moment to kill them and Gohan really didn't want those to happen.

A sudden roar caught Gohan's attention suddenly, causing the young man to instinctively to drop Videl on the ground and shove her behind him, Gohan doing his best to stay between her and what he knew was one of Baba's creatures. Damn, they had been spotted and this monster just happened to have no one to try and smash—except for them. Holding the sword with both hands, the sword point pointing towards the creature, the young man swallowed and hoped that he could hold this thing off until one of Tien's men saved them.

Apparently this new development has woken Videl from her shock, as he felt her hands suddenly grip his pant leg. "Don't, please" he heard her say hoarsely, yet quietly. The fear in her voice was undeniable, but at this moment, Gohan didn't have a choice.

Trudging towards them, the swamp creature raised one of its arms over its head, holding it there for several moments before swinging it down, aiming to smash Gohan's head in. Reacting, Gohan held his sword up in a high block, catching the blow as the blade bit into the moss and algae of the monster. The princess gave out a cry of terror, but Gohan ignored it. Grunting, the young man bore the force behind the blow, then shoved the sword up, effectively parrying the swamp monster's attack. On instinct, Gohan leapt forward, pulling his leg out of Videl's grasp as he swung his sword to his side, then across his body, slicing the monster's arm off cleanly. A flood of swamp water and other swampy…things poured out of the stump, coming to a stop shortly after. The creature stared at the wound for several moments before looking towards Gohan and whining "Hey, that was my arm!"

"Uhh, sorry?" Gohan offered in form of an apology. The swamp creature didn't seem to accept it though as it raised its other arm to strike him. Once again, his instincts took over and his sword went slicing through the air, cutting off that arm as well and a repeat of the swamp water pouring out. Instead of stopping though, Gohan leaned back, compensating for the sword swing and allowing him to position his weapon for another strike. Lunging forward, he thrust the sword forward, running the blade right through the monster's body.

Boy, Mr. Piccolo would've been so proud.

Amazingly enough, that stopped the swamp creature in its tracks, frozen in its stance. After waiting awhile, Gohan pulled the sword out, looking at the monster curiously as it remained on its feet, yet never moving an inch to attack. Well, was it dead?

Almost as if it wanted to disapprove any dying whatsoever, the creature roared again as it began to move. That all came to an end when Gohan felt his arms move once more, this time slicing the creature's head off. The head landed a short distance away, rolling a bit before coming to a stop, its faceless face staring at the young man. For a moment, Gohan felt a sense of dread filling the insides of his stomach. Had he actually killed this thing?

That dread disappeared instantly when he felt something kick his shin. Hard. "Ow!" he exclaimed as he jumped back. That jump didn't seem to help things as the swamp creature's body closed in on him, kicking in the shin again. "What the? How the heck is it still moving?"

"Take this! And this!" the monster's head shouted out nasally, each sentence being punctuated with another kick at Gohan. "This one's for my arm! And this one's for my other arm! And that one's for my head!"

After managing to dodge a couple of kicks, Gohan shouted at the head "How are you still alive? Shouldn't you be dead or something?"

"Fool! I will never die!"

"But I cut off your head!"

"Pfft, that's just a flesh wound!"

"That's a flesh wound? Then what do you call your arms?"

"I just misplaced those. They'll grow back."

Growling, Gohan leapt towards the monster's body, cutting off both of its legs in one swing. As the legs flipped and tumbled through the air, its torso landed on the ground with a wet plop. "Ha! Now you don't have any legs! What do you think about that?"

"No you didn't. They're still there."

To say Gohan was flabbergasted would be to say that deaf men couldn't hear. "But…I…that…why…" was all he managed to sputter out. Seriously, what could one say to a self-deluded…thing?

That answer would remain unsaid as a thunderous sound blasted through the area. Whipping his head around like all of Tien's men and the remaining swamp creatures, Gohan saw Tien standing by himself, his body shifting about with each breath he took. Large veins pulsed on his head for all to see as well as an exhausted expression on his face.

The land in front of him was completely devastated. It looked as if someone had flattened the land with a rolling pin. A large, flat, dirt trail extended from Tien's feet and ended a long distance away. One could've argued that it reached to the horizon and they probably wouldn't be wrong.

Suddenly, the swamp creatures began to sag before collapsing into piles of swamp material. Men jumped from the sudden development, doing their best to stay out of any debris from the collapse. Completely baffled, Gohan began looking about, trying to figure out what could've cause this change.

It was then that he spotted a person lying in the dirt trail. Focusing his eyes the best he could, Gohan soon realized that it was Baba, the witch lying on her back with swirls for eyes. She was mumbling incoherent words, but for the most part she appeared to be harmless.

"Mages!" Tien suddenly called out, startling everyone. He sounded as exhausted as he looked. "Transport Baba to her house. This fight is over."

A loud cheer erupted from the men, before they went about checking the battlefield, looking for any wounded or dead. Letting out a sigh of relief, Gohan turned around to go find Videl. There was no telling where she went once he engaged in—

"Oomph!" Gohan said as he was tackled to the ground. Dropping his sword, his arms wrapped around his attacker, finding a thin, short body. Looking down, he found Videl burying her face into his chest, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Huh, that must've been a record somewhere with the number of times the princess had been hanging onto him without trying to choke him. And…and what was that wet sensation he was feeling on his shirt? Blinking his eyes, the only thing that could be causing any wetness on his shirt was Videl's face.

Was she crying?

"Y-you stupid jerk," he suddenly heard her say into his chest. "Don't scare me like that." At that, her arms tightened on him, causing Gohan to unconsciously wrap his arms around her. It was then he discovered that the princess was trembling.

All around him, Tien's men were looking at them in amusement, several with smirks on their faces. Yet Gohan ignored those looks. He had a girl he needed to calm down.

* * *

><p>The last scene is based off of megaminoeien's <em>DQZ Relief - Lineart<em> fanart. I originally had no idea how to put that into the story, but when this chapter came along, I thought it was the perfect part to put it in. Came out nicely too.

To I'm a person: It was good. But like all naps, it was never enough!

To the0blind0writer: King Kai was too insulted by the sign to "feel the power" lol. And I think you're the first person to actually point out Yajirobi.

To bvprincess23 for Chapter 36: I think the apothcary jar is just a little clay jar you can put stuff in. At least that was the impression I got when I saw a picture of it.

To bvprincess23 for Chapter 37: You know how mom's are. They always want you to be something you're not lol./What can I say, Videl really likes her moments. And Baba just had to ruin one of them lol.

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	39. Who Insisted on Accompanying Them

Ugh, I think I only got two hours of sleep last night. Just...couldn't...fall...asleep...damn it. I almost forgot to post today's chapter too, but thankfully I can still do some sort of math in this tired mind of zzzzzzzzz...mine.

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><p><em>Year 658<em>

_He was a promising young student, full of potential and willing to learn all she had to offer. It wasn't often Baba ran into such people. Most people either had little of the necessary magical talent or quickly became disillusioned with her training regiment. Not that that was her fault, they just didn't have the discipline to seek such magical heights as she already had._

_No vision for greatness at all._

_But now, this new pupil of her, this young man from a house so small she had forgotten its name and replaced it with the word "insignificant" intrigued her. Already he had completed and excelled at the easier magics and was now mastering the more complex and powerful magics. Before long, Baba felt that she could pass on some of her own private magics, the ones that only she and a small handful of Turtle House members had access to._

_Sitting on a pillow as she watched the young man practice, she couldn't help the grin that crawled onto her face. Perhaps it was time to begin preparations for his bright future._

"_Oh Tien," she called out in a sickly sweet voice, catching the man's attention as he stopped his practice and turned towards her. "Would you be a dear and come here? I have a few things I wish to speak to you."_

_Nodding his bald head, he quickly approached her, sitting down in front of the old crone with a stoic look on his face. Try as he might, Baba could plainly see the excitement growing behind his eyes—all three of them to be precise. It seemed he shared her anticipation for this moment. "Tell me, what are the differences between magics?" she said._

_For a moment, Tien looked taken back before he answered. "A magic's strength depends on the amount of magic used," he answered._

"_And why is that?"_

"_Because the more magical energies involved, the stronger the spell becomes."_

"_Correct. So what indicates whether a spell is strong or weak?"_

_This time the young man looked stumped. "I beg your pardon?"_

"_There are a few indications of a spell's strength, some that even those dimwits at the Monkey House can figure out if they paid any attention at all. For example, an easy spell requires little to no concentration at all and can be summoned with a simple gesture." At this Baba pointed one of her fingers to a spare pillow sitting next to a wall. Instantly, the pillow burst open, sending feathers flying about. "See, an easy spell."_

"_I see," Tien agreed, nodding his head._

"_Now then, as you are figuring out by now, there are some spells that are not quite as easy as waving your hand or pointing a finger. These spells need to be harnessed through incantations and chants, the shorter the better. Each incantation depends on the user's method, length being meaningless unless you are in the heat of combat. That is why you see most mages limit the number of words necessary to use a spell. It would be quite a disadvantage to have to speak out a long chant while your opponent can get off three or four spells in the same amount of time, wouldn't you agree?"_

_Again, Tien nodded his head. "So how does one limit the length of an incanation, Lady Baba?"_

"_Practice mostly. For instance, I know quite a few spells that most of the Turtle Mages would deem as high difficulty spells, but I can perform with a gesture. Not all mages can do such feats, but every once in awhile there is one with the possibility." Baba paused for a moment to grin mischievously. "I even know some mages that must commit long incantations for simple shield spells."_

"_May I ask why you are telling me this?"_

"_You may," Baba nodded her head. "I see great potential in you Tien. You are running towards a dead end, so to speak, so I just wanted to steer you in a slightly different direction. Prevent you from encountering the same obstacles that many of your predecessors encountered and were stifled by."_

_Tien bowed his head in gratitude. "I thank the Lady for her words of wisdom. I shall take them to heart."_

"_Good boy. You may leave."_

* * *

><p>"Would you mind telling me why Baba was willing to violate her banishment in order to kill you?" Tien asked, looking at Gohan and Videl tiredly.<p>

Gohan would have scratched the back of his head as was his habit, but unfortunately Videl was clinging to the arm he usually used for it. It really threw off his routine. So he settled for a cheeky grin that had made Mr. Piccolo want to deck him a few times for.

Ever since that fight with Baba and her swamp creatures, Videl had refused to let Gohan move more than a few feet from her. Apparently the girl had been more frightened about that whole battle than he had originally thought. At least she had calmed down somewhat, since she was just holding onto his arm. Gohan had to admit he didn't mind her closeness.

Currently the three of them plus Tien's men were at their camp. All around them, armored men were busy setting up tents and building fires. Though it was only midday, the battle had taken a lot out of everything that had fought and Tien had ordered them all to set up camp. After that, the bald man had found a small rock to sit on and had begun questioning the two dark-haired teens. Fortunately, a log had been near enough that they could roll it closer to Tien, since he had shown no inclination to getting off that rock.

"Well, I had run into Baba a long time ago," Gohan answered. "Me and a friend that is. She had conned us with a blanket and my friend had wanted his money back. We ended up stopping her from conning some other people. We had to flee after that."

An amused expression appeared on Tien's face. "I can see why she was not in the best of moods, though I would think that any normal person would avoid those woods after angering that witch."

"Yeah, I hadn't been paying attention to where we were going. You see, we're looking for a friend of ours and we thought she had gone through that forest."

"Is this a different friend from that one that you met Baba with?"

"Yes."

Nodding his head, Tien began rubbing the lower part of his face with one of his hands. "I suppose it would be best if you stayed with my unit for the next couple of days. If Baba was willing to leave her forest once, she would be willing to do it a second time."

"But what about Erasa?" Videl suddenly piped up. "She keeps leaving signs for us to follow, and what if we miss one of them? Then we'd never catch up with her."

Tien shook his head. "It cannot be helped. I will not change my course because your friend is leading you on a wild goose chase. And since I will be escorting you, you _will_ be coming with me to my destination. You can restart your search for your friend once we arrive but no sooner."

"Hey! Who are you to—"

Quickly, Gohan covered Videl's mouth with his free hand, leaning his head towards her ear. "We should accept his offer and head to the capital," he whispered to her. "Somebody there may have seen Erasa or heard about her and could direct us towards her. Since Erasa chose to go through the Witch's Forest, there are only so many places she could go to on the other side, the capital being one of them. Maybe that's where she's been trying to go this whole time."

Videl glared at him through narrowed eyes, but nodded her head to indicate she was relenting. "Fine, we will accompany you to the capital," she said in her most snooty voice possible. Sighing, Gohan felt as if he had dodged an arrow on that one. Though he was gambling about Erasa heading towards the capital, either way they were going there with or without a traveling brigade of armed men. At least this way they would stand a chance of not getting into any trouble.

As Tien nodded his affirmation, his eyes suddenly narrowed, focusing on Gohan. "You know, for some reason I have this feeling you and I have met before, but I do not recall where. Do you have any recollection of any meeting between us?"

Gohan took a good look at Tien. "I don't think so," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

Tien continued to study him for a few moments before shrugging himself. "My mind could be playing tricks on me," he relented. "It is possible that I am mistakening you for someone else. Though…you do have a unique hairstyle…"

Gohan really wished he could've moved his arm at that point. His hand was dying to scratch his head. "Umm…so do you?"

Tien chuckled at that, despite Videl shooting a glare at the young man. "Fair enough. So—"

"Are we stopping already? But the afternoon just started! Shouldn't we keep moving?" a feminine voice suddenly spoke up, catching the attention of the three. Turning his head, Gohan immediately caught sight of a very familiar figure…woman, he meant woman. She just happened to have an attractive body. Yeeeeeah.

Shuffling about in oversized shackles was Launch—the good one, not the crazy blonde one. She was being escorted by four stoic guards, each one carrying a weapon that was ready to spear the girl if necessary. For her credit, she seemed to be taking everything in stride, very upbeat despite her present situation.

Videl also seemed to be surprised by the blue-haired woman's appearance. "What's Launch doing here?" she asked out loud.

Hearing her name, Launch whipped her head towards them, a large smile appearing on her face. "Videl! Gohan! It's so good to see you!" she called out to them.

Standing up, Gohan and Videl began approaching the blue-haired woman while Tien gave the three of them a puzzled look. However, the dark-haired youths were stopped short of reaching the kind woman when her guards took a step forward and halted them. "Oh, I guess that's as far as they'll let me get to you," Launch said apologetically. "What brings you two out here?"

"We're still looking for our friend," Videl answered, not the least perturbed by the situation. "Would you mind telling me why you're here instead of in prison?"

"Oh! They're transferring me to another jail at the capital so I can finally pay for my crimes and be redeemed in the eyes of society! Isn't that great?"

"Hold on, hold," Tien suddenly said from behind them. "You know each other?"

Gohan and Videl looked to the bald man. "Yeah, we met in the village that she was arrested in," Gohan answered. "Videl and her got in a mud-wrestling fight because of it."

Videl immediately jabbed her elbow into the young man's gut. "He doesn't need to know what part," she reprimanded.

For his part, Tien had to good grace to look amused. "And I assume you fought her other personality, correct?"

"That is correct."

"And you were the ones to figure out the word that makes her switch between personalities?"

"Yep."

"Then can we see the two of them in another fight? I would love to see that," a new voice spoke up.

Tien let out an irritated sigh as everyone turned to look at a young man who was also shackled, but seemed to have managed to carve the number 17 into everyone of them. "It would only be fair to the rest of us to at least get a reenactment."

"Who took off his gag?" Tien asked exasperatedly, all the while Launch looked at the man curiously while Videl seethed. For some reason, Gohan had the feeling things were about to go downhill very quickly.

"If you must know, I ate it," the man said, looking rather proud of himself. "It wasn't easy, but one must never underestimate the power of determination. Why, my grandfather once ate a lily plant just because someone dared him to do it. "

Tien gave him a pointed look. "You do realize that lilies are poisonous, right?"

"Huh, I guess that would explain why he died right after that."

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Launch exclaimed sorrowfully. "You must be so hurt that your grandfather was taken away from you like that. Do you need a hug? You can use my shoulder to cry on if you need to."

The man's eyes immediately zeroed in on Launch's bosom as possibilities flashed before him. "Oh yes, I see it now!" he cried out dramatically. "It was my grandfather's death that put me on this path of blowing things up—even if it was totally awesome. Oh woe is me! Hug me!" Lunging forward, everything seemed to go into slow motion as he flew towards Launch and her enticing assets. A dramatic light shown down on them all as sparkles began to twinkle all over the place.

And it all came crashing down when the chains to his shackles went taunt, causing him to plummet to the ground just as suddenly as that freaky scene appeared, the young man landing flat on his face with all of his limbs splayed out. A large sweatdrop covered everyone from the important characters to the guards. Even Launch had one.

After awhile, Videl said "I don't want to know where you found this guy."

* * *

><p>The stars shined down from the heavens, the sharp pops and crackles of wood being burned filling the air. There was sparse talk amongst the soldiers, but for the most part the ones not on guard duty were turning in. Tien had offered Gohan and Videl a couple of tents for their own use. They of course accepted his offer, well, half of his offers. Videl didn't see the point in them using two different tents.<p>

Something that had caused Tien to raise an eyebrow, but kept his words to himself.

And it was in that tent that the two dark-haired youths were at, lying beneath a blanket like they had done for so long. The only difference so far was that they had a linen roof over their heads and both of them were wide awake.

Oh, and there was also the fact that Videl was still physically attached to him.

By now, Gohan felt that Videl had taken this reassurance thing a little too far. Yeah, he understood the girl had been frightened for him in that battle and her clinging throughout the day being a result of that. He got that. But he really didn't see the point of it when they were lying down to go to sleep and she had still not ended bodily contact. Perhaps that was just a bit of Mr. Piccolo rubbing off on him. The green man had never been much for consoling.

"Are you still awake?" he heard the princess say quietly. It was unexpected, but perhaps this was a good thing. He could get the girl back on her independent feet much more quickly.

"Yep. Anything on your mind?" he replied.

"That fight this morning," she answered, pausing to collect her thoughts. "You really did frighten me."

He already knew that. She had tackled him to drive that point home earlier. "I'm sorry about that."

"Promise me you won't do that again."

"Huh?"

Videl rose her self up, placing her hands on either side of the young man. Hovering over him, he saw her blue eyes awash with emotions. Had that fight really affected her this much? "I'm serious, Gohan. I don't want to see you get hurt. So I want you to promise me that you won't get involved in such savagery."

Gohan gulped. For some reason, he had the feeling that he was on unchartered territory here. "Are you asking this cause you think I'll get hurt? But I didn't get hurt today."

"But you could in the future! And I don't want that to happen. You're too…" at this she swallowed, creating an uneasy pause, "important…to me."

Gohan stared at the girl with wide eyes. What did she mean by that? Important? Did she really care so much about his own welfare? Looking into the princess' eyes, Gohan couldn't help but get the feeling that she did care and a lot at that. This was her dropping her hardened exterior and letting him see her sensitive center. Completely genuine and without any obstructions. Softening his features, Gohan nodded his head as he gave her a small smile. "I promise that I won't get hurt involved in a fight like that."

Videl studied him, making sure that he was being truthful and not making an empty promise. When she found what she sought, she gave him a similar smile, her eyes lighting up with satisfaction. Lowering her head down, she rested it against his shoulder, murmuring "Thank you," into him. Feeling emboldened, Gohan wrapped his arms around her, bringing the rest of her body closer to him. Lifting her head up, she gave him an quizzical look before it melted in amusement. Coyly, she extended her head up and gave him a quick, chaste kiss, to signal her approval. Similar content expressions covered their faces as they looked to each other.

But then something happen. They kissed again, another quick, chaste one. And then another and another, each one becoming longer than the first. Sleep became the last thing on their minds as their bodies began moving against each other, finding more comfortable positions as they continued their lip locks.

And the stars continued to shine down.

* * *

><p>To I'm a person: Nightmares plague all who know where Sharpner keeps his valuables. Videl has now joined them lol.<p>

To the0blind0writer: Interestingly enough, Ms. Videl Son and I have chatted about a sequel once or twice. There isn't any definite plan, but it is a possibility.

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	40. To Their Final Destination

Hey guys, just to let you know, I will be closing my poll in the next couple of chapters and letting you all know the results of it shortly after. I'll let y'all know what I intend to do in the last chapter of this story, which is coming up fairly soon. We're on the home stretch.

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><p>So this is what all those happily ever after endings were about. Videl had always seen them as too obvious and uninteresting. Dull, even. The prince rode off with the princess so that they could start a family, have a few kids, and the princess became the perfect housewife. Boring, right? Yet those ending left out an important detail that Videl found very meaningful.<p>

That smug, satisfied feeling one got from being completely content. And apparently her idea of content was lying next to her newest idea of a prince, her head resting on his shoulder as one of her arms and legs draped over him, not that anyone could tell since they were covered by a blanket. Yeah, yeah, that prince part was as cheesy as Erasa's desired happily ever after, but hey, she was in a good mood and what ever thoughts she had at the moment were going to be very romanticized.

Adding a contented sigh to her contented mood, she nuzzled her face into Gohan's shoulder, the feeling of his arms around her being quite pleasant. They were gonna have to get up soon, since they were now running on someone else's time and she wanted to enjoy this moment for as long as possible.

Letting out another sign, her half-lidded eyes looking towards the tent wall, she lazily drifted her sight around, more to occupy herself with something she considered to be productive. As her eyes moved towards the tent flaps, she caught sight of something that made her stiffen with alarm. There, in the corner of a tent, sitting on a stool that had somehow found its way into their tent was the Unholy Grail.

And it had a sign.

"**I'm very disappointed in you,**" it read. "**You should have drunk from me first.**"

Not quite willing to face this crazy cup on her own, Videl immediately began shaking Gohan. "Gohan, wake up, wake up," she said in a hurried tone. Upon hearing a groan, she had to thank Kami that her bedmate was really easy to wake up. "Huh? Waaz zizit?" she heard Gohan grumble.

Ignoring the gibberish, Videl pointed her finger at the cup. "The grail, it got out!"

A play-by-play of the princess' first reaction was reenacted by Gohan as he too stiffened, his arm tightening around her. Reading the grail's sign, she soon heard Gohan ask "Where did it get the stool?"

"Oh sure, that's the first thing you want to know," Videl replied sarcastically. "It's a magical cup! Where do you think it possibly could have gotten it? Magically of course!"

Sighing, Gohan sat up, causing Videl to slide off of him. Untangling himself from her and the blanket, he stood up in all his naked glory, walked over to the grail and picked it up. Watching him the whole time with wide eyes, Videl suddenly felt a wave of suspicion. "What are you doing with that cup?"

"I'm gonna put it back in the pack and try to ignore it. Like before," he answered, despite the sign proclaiming "**I will not be ignored!**" Disobeying the sign, Gohan walked over to their pack and shoved the grail back in with a grunt. Once satisfied, he then began going about the process of dressing himself. "We're gonna have to figure out a better solution to that thing."

"I know," Videl agreed as she too sat up, holding the blanket to her body with one hand as her other one moved up to push all of her hair behind her shoulders. "We better be more careful though. I think we upset it."

"**Nawwww, really? I never would have guessed,**" the sign read, causing the two dark-haired youths to stare at it. Okay, Videl was never someone to fault another person for sarcasm, but right now there was only room enough in this tent for one sarcastic person. That sign had to go.

Suddenly, they heard something rap against the tent flap. "The captain wanted to inform you that the unit is breaking camp and you need to be ready to leave in ten minutes," a guard said. Giving him a confirmation that they understood the order, they were left in silence until they heard a very loud grumble.

Moving his hand to scratch the back of his head, Gohan said "I hope they have some breakfast."

* * *

><p>Gohan stared at the familiar battlements with the proudly-waving flags, the bridge that was the only entrance into the city—on this side—the polished walls surrounding everything, and especially the castle at the center of the whole place. This whole journey had begun here and it would end here. He was ready for it.<p>

"This is where we leave you," Tien said as he pulled up next to him and Videl. "My men and I must escort the prisoners to their final destination, so I bid you good luck with finding your friend."

Gohan nodded his head and held out his hand. Tien responded by holding out his own hand and grasping Gohan's giving a quick shake before they released. "Thank you for escorting us this entire way. We're in your debt."

Tien waved that off. "There is no need for debts. It is my duty to ensure the safety of the people in all the kingdom and I do not perform my duties for self-gratification. All I ask is that you continue being law-abiding citizens and keep out of trouble." He paused for a moment. "And try avoiding the Witch's Forest for now. I rather not have to save you from Baba again."

Again, Gohan nodded his head. "We'll do that."

Giving a small grin, Tien then set off towards the city before coming to a complete stop. Turning around, this time he had a frown on his face. "You know, I still think we have met before. It is at the tip of my tongue too."

If there was one negative part of being escorted by Tien, it was the looks the bald man would give him every so often. Gohan felt the man truly believed they had met somewhere and as far as he knew, the only way they would have encountered each other was if Gohan had broken the law and he hadn't broken any laws…well, if you ignored that breaking someone out of prison thing that is. Shrugging his shoulders, he replied "I suppose it'll come to you eventually. Until we meet again, good bye! Oh! And if you can, be nice to Launch! She's not that bad a person!"

Tien waved a hand at him good-naturedly and finally left the dark-haired couple by themselves. The rest of his unit trudged on by with Launch giving them a big smile and a loud good-bye. The other prisoner with them, someone Gohan found out was called 17 for some reason, just ignored them.

Looking down at Videl, Gohan found the princess right next to him, her arm hooked around his. From what the girl told him, this was proper etiquette when two people were "in a relationship" as she called it. For his part, Gohan figured what she meant was that the two of them were courting each other, which was fine with him. The last couple of days with her had been quite enjoyable.

"So this is the capital," Videl said eventually, looking at the place in awe. "This is the first time I've been here."

Gohan gave her a smile. "We should enter it. It's likely we'll find someone that can point us towards Erasa."

Videl cocked an eyebrow at him. "I'm pretty sure this is the place Erasa was heading towards. We did find her arrow trail along the way here."

Indeed, as they had traveled with Tien, they had come across a few more of Erasa's fields of arrows, usually with a few unfortunate men pinned down as well. The first time Tien had looked at them oddly when they told him this was the work of their friend. And considering making lewd comments to women wasn't a crime, the bald man had the men released and left to cry themselves in shame. The last arrow field Erasa had left them had tough-looking, short-haired women in it, so apparently the blonde was an equal opportunist when she dished out punishments.

Though Gohan was still trying to figure out what one of them meant by scissoring.

Taking a deep breath, Gohan began the trek towards the city, Videl matching him for every step. As the city walls loomed over them, the faint whipping sounds of the flags reaching their ears, the two mingled into a light crowd as it crossed the bridge, some heading into the city and others leaving it. It was a slight déjà vu for Gohan, though the last time he was here, his eyes had been completely focused on that castle so far away.

Another thing different from the last time was Erasa standing on the other side of the cross bridge, her hands on her hips, a sour look on her face, and one of her feet tapping impatiently. When her blue eyes fell on the two, she immediately pounced on them—verbally of course. "It is about time you arrived here," she called out to them irritatedly. "Do you have any idea how long you made me wait?"

Apparently, someone else thought Erasa was talking to them, and so they answered her. "But you just got here."

"I wasn't talking to you!" the blonde snapped at them before refocusing on the dark-haired couple. "Now then, do you not think it is time you escorted me to my prince? I have much planning to do once we are betrothed and…wait, is someone missing?"

Gohan and Videl looked at each other before looking around. "I don't think so," Gohan murmured, though he couldn't help but notice that something was missing, that everything was quiet for some reason…a little _too_ quiet.

Videl shrugged it off though as she said "There's only three of us—you, me, and Gohan. And now that we finally caught up with you, make sure you don't wander off somewhere. I'm tired of chasing you all over this bloody kingdom."

"What ever Vi," Erasa rolled her eyes. "Now, we need to go over how you are to introduce me. I want everything to go perfectly, so I need you, Vi, to act as my handmaiden while Gohan is my personal escort." Staring the two down to make sure they understood what she was getting at, she noticed their current state. "Like that," she pointed at their linked arms. "Gohan needs to walk me up to the castle like that, and Videl you need to follow us from behind. I know you grew up with the royal treatment, but you need to act like I beat you every day."

"Erasa, we're not even in the castle yet. We can figure out the presentation later," Videl spoke up annoyed. "Until then, let's just get to the castle."

Erasa returned Videl's annoyed tone with her own. "Fine, what ever you say. But you two can stop hanging onto each other. It's not like you have to pretend your married or something to get into the city."

"Perhaps we should just head for the castle?" Gohan suggested. Already he could feel Videl's arm tightening on his. Apparently she had no inclination to let go, so instead of having the two girls start an argument in the middle of the street, it would be best if they went their way. Seeing the two nod their heads in agreement, he couldn't help the relief he felt.

"_Attention citizens, attention citizens,"_ a high-pitched voice suddenly shouted. _"We have a child at the Lost and Found, I repeat, we have a child at the Lost and Found. If you have lost your child in the last hour, it is likely we have him. And if you did lose him, you are a very, very bad parent that should be crucified for your negligence. So please come and claim your child."_

Gohan just stared down the street. What the heck was Lost and Found and why would they keep a lost child there? Really, these city people had all sorts of weird things here. Next thing you could tell him, they would have a unit of men whose only purpose was to put out fires. Truly a waste of man power. Looking to his female companions, he shrugged his shoulders and began walking forward, heading towards the capital. Videl kept up with him easily, refusing to relinquish her hold on him while Erasa began to follow them.

However, that high-pitched announcement returned a short time later, only this time louder. A few minutes later and the same thing happened. It was almost as if they were heading right to the source of the yelling. Looking at the buildings situated at the edge of the streets, Gohan soon located a sign that said _"Lost & Found Your Brat."_ So that was this so called Lost and Found. Though who ever built this place really messed it up. The entrance was on a porch, surrounded by railing until it reached a point opposite the building doorway. There the porch jutted out with railing at its front, several steps descending on either side of the formation so people could climb onto it. This made all the commotion within the building viewable at eyelevel, at least for Gohan. He wasn't too sure if his smaller companions could actually see what was going on in there.

"I want my mommy!" a voice shrieked into the air, a child's voice no doubt. "I want her, I want her, I WANT HER!" Yeesh, that child sounded as if it were screaming bloody murder despite the lack of blood being present. There were some muffled voices that were drowned out by the screaming, most likely people trying to calm the child down though they were having little success. As they drew closer to the building, the three couldn't help but look at an open doorway to see if they could catch sight of this unruly child.

What they found was not a child. A full grown man was hanging onto the railing of a staircase close to the doorway, a man and a woman trying their best to pry him off of it. Stopping, the three couldn't help but stare at the sight, just like they would've if a ten-carriage pile-up had occurred.

"Sir! Quit playing around and let go of the railing!" the woman demanded, clearly aggravated. Her partner merely grunted his agreement though her words made no impact with the childish man.

"I don't wanna!" the man shouted as he thrashed his body, looking like a struggling worm. It would've been comical if it weren't so pathetic. It would be something someone could laugh about afterwards, when it was clearly over and not embarrassing all involved.

"Umm, do you two need help?" Gohan called out instinctively. He really couldn't help himself, he was starting to pity those two workers. They looked as if they could use all the help they could get and so far a bystander effect was keeping everyone else from helping. It was as if the responsibility to help these poor people was being spread out amongst all the people in the area and thus lessened the guilty feeling people felt from not helping.

Suddenly, the childish man's body went stiff as his head jerked up. "Sidekick? Is that you?"

Oh no. No, no, no. There was no way. It couldn't be. It was impossible! No one was that pathetic and useless to refuse leaving a Lost and Found. Not even he was that low, was he?

"Is that Sharpner?" Videl deadpanned.

Indeed it was Sharpner now that Gohan got a look at him. How he hadn't managed to see his long blond hair, he didn't know but he figured a part of him wanted to shield him from the embarrassment of the whole situation. Thrashing about, Sharpner pulled himself out of the workers' arms, let go of the stair railing, and rushed out of the Lost and Found, stopping as he rammed into the railing at the edge of the porch. "It is you Sidekick! Oh thank Kami almighty!"

However, despite his gratefulness for their arrival, the blond's eyes immediately zoomed on Gohan and Videl, particularly their linked arms. "Hey! What are you doing with my princess, huh? Why are you walking around like you're married or something?"

At the edge of the entire scene was Erasa, her arms crossed over her chest as she watched in annoyance. "Come on Videl, Gohan. We have better things to do than to listen to that brainless ape. Let us continue forward."

"Hey, you can't ignore me! I'm the hero! The hero is the main character of the story!" Sharpner shouted. "You have no idea the things I've been through to get here!"

"And what, pray tell, did you have to go through to get here?" Videl asked with a slight growl in her tone.

"Why, I was abandoned in the wilderness! I had to fend off all of these wild animals that were just sitting there and staring at me like I was a piece of steak! Then I had to walk all the way here while being chased by every beautiful woman that I encountered. They just couldn't believe that I was an already taken man and wanted to prove their loved to me. In fact, they were threatening to kill anyone that looked at me. I barely managed to escape their passioned-filled clutches and ended up here, when these crazy city workers said I was lost and took me captive."

Gohan blinked for a moment before replying "So you woke up to all of Videl's animal friends watching you, got scared and ran off to the nearest village where you tried to hit on some of the village girls who told you they weren't interested and tried to kill you when you ignored that response. You then stumbled upon this city where those Lost and Found workers tried to help you but you threw a fit instead until we showed up here."

Sharpner, Erasa, and Videl stared at the young man for several moments before Sharpner said "Like I said, I had to fend off—"

"You know, it's scary that you were able to figure all of that out from his story," Videl interrupted. "Please tell me that was a lucky guess and not you being able to read between the lines."

"I don't know, Vi, he has been traveling with this idiot long enough," Erasa said. "He's had plenty of time to figure out what all that babbling is." She paused for a moment. "But what did he mean about your animal friends?"

"Oh, Videl sang a song and they all came out," Gohan answered.

"WHAT? Videl sang for you?" Turning on the dark-haired girl, Erasa grabbed her by her shoulders and began shaking her as she yelled at her, causing Videl to lose her hold on Gohan's arm. "How could you sing in front of this guy you barely know, but refuse to do it around your bestest best friend in the world? How, Videl, how? It's not fair, you should sing when I'm around to hear it!"

Videl shot her arms out to grab the blonde around her shoulders, trying to steady herself. "Erasa, stop. First, I never sing. It's a useless princess power and completely overrated. Second, I haven't sung anything since I showed you that one."

Erasa frowned at that, though she had stopped her shaking. "But then why would this guy say you sang?"

Again, Gohan answered. "That's because she was under a spell that made her phhhaaaa—"

With a speed like lightning, Videl was in front of Gohan, one of her hands in his gut, which had caused him to lose his breath and bend over. It seemed she realized exactly when she had been singing and it was the only time she couldn't remember anything, whether that was consciously or not. "I thought I told you not to speak of any of that," she hissed at him.

A soft tapping sound soon got their attention. "Oh Videeeeeeel," Erasa sang out. "What is this spell your little friend is talking about? And why are you so insistent on keeping him quiet about it? Really, tell me. I would _love_ to know."

Despite the coughs and wheezes from Gohan as he tried to catch his breath, he could see the princess was rapidly trying to find someway to get out of this situation. It seemed she needed some help in that department. "Shouldn't we…get going…to the castle?" he managed to sputter out. "Who knows how long…it'll take to get to…Roshi…"

That seemed to be all the persuasion Erasa needed as she looked alarmed. "You're right! C'mon everyone! We need to get to that castle pronto! Now move out!"

Sighing, Gohan started to straighten himself out when he caught a grateful look coming from Videl. He gave her a smile in return before moving off towards the castle, the two girls following him from behind.

"Hey! You're still ignoring me!" Sharpner shouted after them, leaning over the railing dangerously as he watched them go off. "Get back here! I'm not done with all the terrible things that happened to me! Hello? Can you hear me? Do I need to scream louder at you? Guys?"

* * *

><p>Looks like the whole gang made it. Even Sharpner. Things had been very quiet without him. It was a really weird feeling...<p>

Also, the Lost & Found joke comes from Ms. Videl Son. After the Wizard of Z arc, I had no idea how to use him, but I didn't want to get rid of him just yet, so she suggested having him show up at a Lost & Found later on and I loved the idea. MVS is truly an inspiration.

To I'm a person: Yeah, things would not have gone well for him.

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	41. After Overcoming Numerous Obstacles

I never really thought this would happen, but Dragon Quest Z has now surpassed 300 reviews. I'm very grateful to everyone that has read, reviewed, and overal enjoyed the story. It means a lot to me and Ms. Videl Son.

* * *

><p><em>Year 661<em>

_The fire popped and crackled, lighting up the small area Piccolo and Gohan had stopped for the night. The green man was currently mentally preparing himself for the next story he would have to tell the child, even though he really didn't want to. He never should have given into the boy's whim, never ever. Now he was stuck telling the boy stories every single night since._

_And speaking of the boy, he was putting the finishing touches on his pack, finally cleaning up the utensils they had used for supper tonight. It was his night to clean up after all and the boy seemed satisfied with the performance of his task. Any moment now, Piccolo was expecting the boy to turn to him and ask for his story. Yep, any moment now…_

"_Mr. Piccolo?" the boy spoke up, turning to face the green man. "Have you ever thought of what it would be like to be part of the Houses?"_

_What the? Where had that question come from? "What are you talking about, boy?"_

"_I mean, we're poor right? Have you ever wondered what he would be like to be rich?"_

_Oh, so that's what the kid was getting at; a question that every peasant had asked themselves since the dawn of time. What was it with that question anyways? Did the peasants not have anything better to do? If Piccolo ever got back his former ranking, he was gonna have to do his best to stamp that question out of existence._

"_No, I have not," he replied after a few moments. "Such fanciful daydreams rarely come true to those who only think about it. A person's time would be better spent doing as they wished and not wishing they could."_

"_Well I have," Gohan replied, pulling out his blanket as he began preparing to lay down. "I think it would be fun to live in a big castle, with people doing what ever you tell them. You wouldn't have to worry about food or anything else."_

"_Is that what you think? Perhaps I need to make your day busier."_

_The boy grinned cheekily at him as he laid on the ground, pulling his blanket on top of him. "I was just asking a question, Mr. Piccolo."_

_The green man grunted. After a few moments, he then said "What if I told you you were from a rich family?"_

_The boy's eyes widened. "Really Mr. Piccolo?"_

"_Uh huh."_

"_Who were they? My family, I mean."_

_Piccolo pondered what he should say. Would the truth be the right thing to say? Or would telling a story be the better choice? Weighing his options, Piccolo finally decided to see how the boy would take the truth. "You know that story about the stolen Monkey child, yes?"_

"_Yep! It's my favorite story!"_

_And didn't he know it? Gohan pleaded with him night after night to hear the story, so that had been a dumb question on Piccolo's part to ask. But if he wanted to put a spin on it, he could claim he wanted to be sure the boy knew what he was talking about. Yep, that was the perfect spin to put on it. "Would you believe that you are the stolen child from that story?"_

_Gohan stared at him for sometime before he started laughing. "Don't joke like that Mr. Piccolo, you're horrible at it," he laughed. "There's no way I'm that kid. That happened, like, a really long time ago!" Piccolo just watched the kid, concealing his mirth. Calming down, the boy put his arms behind his head, using them as a pillow. "I wonder what it would be like to be that little boy. I bet it was so much fun!"_

"_Yeah, fun, woohoo," Piccolo said sarcastically. So the boy was in denial. What ever. If that's the way the kid wanted to see things, that's the way he would let him. No green skin off his back. "It's time for you to go to sleep now. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow, Kid."_

* * *

><p>"So, how do we get in here?" Sharpner asked as he looked at the towering castle before them. Gohan could faintly recall asking that same question when he had been here the last time. Though that time he has tricked a couple of kids into sneaking him in, he really doubt they would help him this time. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me, after all. Quickly looking around, he saw that those two kids were in fact not around. So he couldn't go in like the last time.<p>

"You said you met with this Roshi guy, yes?" Erasa asked him. "How did you get in the first time?"

"Two little kids dressed me in a graffiti-covered suit of armor and snuck me in," he responded, ignoring the incredulous looks on his three companions' faces as they looked to him. Spotting something familiar, he then pointed towards it. "Look over there."

As they looked, a small gathering of armored guards stood over one of their fallen comrades, a couple kneeling next to him and painting various words and shapes on his armor. A sweatdrop appeared around each of their heads at the sight. "There's no way we can all fit in that armor," Sharpner said.

Videl and Erasa simultaneously muttered "Idiot," under their breaths. In the meantime, Gohan kept looking around, trying to figure out their best way in. There weren't many shady-looking places that they could disappear into and sneak into the castle and the only way into it was the front gate. With its heavily-armed and well-armored guards. Well, knocking on the door shouldn't be too much trouble, shouldn't it?

Striding towards the gate, leaving the other three behind to watch him curiously, he stood before the guards, gave them a big smile and said "Hello, I have an appointment with—"

Suddenly, the front gate opened, startling the young man to stopping his greeting and causing the guards to jump slightly. Behind the gate was a man in leather armor who was staring at Gohan for several moments. Suddenly, he exclaimed "Lord Gohan! I was unaware you were visiting us as well! Welcome, welcome, please come in."

Holy crap, it was that guard from before, the one Goten had told he was his older brother. "Ahh, yes, thank you very much," Gohan said uneasily. "Umm, I have some companions with me as well. May I bring them in too?"

The man rolled his eyes. "Of course Lord Gohan. They are your guests so they are welcome to come in. I assume they are also apart of Lord Goku's party as well." He paused for a moment. "Umm, who are these three?"

Nodding his head quickly, he turned to look at his travel companions and waved them over. Awkwardly, the three walked over to them. Holding his hand out to them individually, he introduced them. "These young ladies are the Princess Videl and the Princess Erasa of the Satan House and the young man is Sharpner. He is a…uh…a great hero from those lands."

The guard rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Are you sure this man is a hero? He looks more like a sidekick to me."

Upon hearing Sharpner gasp at the accusation, Gohan immediately closed in on the guard, putting his hand up on the opposite side of his mouth to hide it from the insulted blond. "He is a sidekick," Gohan whispered to him. "But his ego is so fragile that we just call him a hero so that he does not annoy everyone with his whining. I would normally not play into this delusion, but his father asked me to since that was the only way to keep him quiet."

The guard nodded his head in understanding. "I see. Well then, many apologies Hero Sharpner. Please, make yourself at home here."

As the four entered the castle, Sharpner sniffing haughtily as he passed by, the guard turned and muttered to himself "Spoiled brat. I bet his hair is worth more than the rest of his body."

Upon entered the rich hallway of the castle, Erasa immediately confronted Gohan on their sudden entry. "Why didn't you tell me you were a prince? I would've married you on the spot!" she exclaimed.

Gohan's hand found its way to the back of his head. "But I'm not. He just thinks I am cause a kid told him I was."

Videl pulled ahead of them and came to a stop facing them, causing the other three to stop as well. "Alright, you need to explain yourself right now. Why did that guy call you 'Lord Gohan'? And why did you let him? What were you even here for in the first place?"

Gohan gave her a meek look. "That happened the last time I was here too. Those two kids I mentioned earlier turned out to be princes from the Monkey House and one of them claimed I was his brother when we were confronted by that guy. I was scared at the time so I went with it and he believed us. He even said there was a resemblance."

"That guy must be blind," Sharpner scoffed. "First he calls me a sidekick when I am most obviously not, but then he calls you some sort of Lord because he thinks you're better than me. I don't know how he manages to keep a job here."

However, Videl seemed to study Gohan for a moment, something clicking in her head. "You know Gohan, you do have features similar to the Monkey people. You may not be a Monkey Lord, but it is possible you were born there."

This gave Gohan pause. He hadn't really given much thought about his origins, but this really did intrigue him. When this whole thing was over, he needed to make his way to the Monkey Lands. Ever since Videl had been trying to get to know him, she had occasionally asked him where he had come from, not content to settle for his life starting with Mr. Piccolo. With no recollection of his family he faintly knew existed, but lacked any other information, he had no clue as to where his life had started. Perhaps he could get some answers there.

With both youths lost in their own thoughts, Gohan with his next adventure while Videl seemed to be focused on figuring some sort of puzzle out, their blond counterparts didn't seem all that patient to let them figure it out. "Hey, unless you're thinking of me, get out of your meaningless thoughts," Sharpner spoke out. That seemed to be all the prompting they needed as they jolted out of their thoughts.

"You know, not everything is about you, moron," Videl said.

That seemed to be news to Sharpner. "What are you talking about? I'm the hero of this story, so of course everything is about me. Now quit ignoring me. I need you to heap glory upon me."

Erasa didn't take the blond's directions though. "You still have not answer Videl's last question," she pointed out. "What were you doing here the first time?"

The only thing Gohan managed to say was "Umm…" before two blur appeared out of nowhere, colliding with him and sending him crashing into the wall. With wide eyes, the other three stared at his crumpled form, two small children sitting on him as one dark-haired child held his head in pain and a lavender-haired one seemed to be checking himself for injuries.

"You okay, Goten?" the lavender-haired kid asked his counterpart.

"I think I might have broken my head, Trunks," Goten replied.

Trunks stood up, still on top of Gohan, and leaned over Goten, staring down on his head. "I don't see any blood so I think you're alright." Frowning, he then asked "What did we hit? Don't tell me we broke another vase."

"Hey, you brats! Get off my sidekick!" Sharpner suddenly reprimanded, causing both of them to look at him. "If you brokened him, I swear I'll sue!"

"Oh great, another peasant found his way in," Trunks commented, annoyed. "Those guards sure aren't what they used to be," he added, shaking his head disappointedly.

Looking from the blond to his friend, Goten then looked down to see who they were sitting on and stared at Gohan's face. It took a couple moments before something clicked in his head. "Hey Trunks! It's that guy that tried to break that green guy from prison!"

Trunks jerked his head over and quickly recognized the youth. "Hey, you're right! What are you doing back here? Didn't that old goat send you to some death camp?"

Gohan looked at the two of them for a moment before replying "Hi Trunks. Hi Goten. I'm actually back with the princess Roshi told me to—"

One hand suddenly latched onto Trunks head, another hand onto Goten's, then lifted both kids off of Gohan, causing both of them to start squirming in midair. "Gohan," Videl said lowly, "Why did these two kids say you were attempting a prison break?"

Gohan gulped as he stared up at the girl, Trunks and Goten going still at the tone of her voice. Apparently even they realized something bad was going to happen and neither one of them wanted to be the target. "Well…uhh…I thought I could get Mr. Piccolo out of prison by sneaking him out and these kids helped me get to him. But then they tattled on me."

"Nuh uh! We didn't tattle!" Goten protested, restarting his squirming again.

"Yeah! You were the one doing the bad thing!" Trunks added.

A quick glare from Videl silenced them both. Once she returned her attention to Gohan, she then said "So let me get this straight. You tried to break your friend out of prison and used two little kids to help you." Upon seeing his head nod, she sighed exasperatedly, dropping the two kids back on top of the young man. "I should have known you would do something that moronic."

"Sidekick! You're no sidekick at all!" Sharpner suddenly exclaimed, aghast. "You're a villain! Someone a hero smites, not teams up with!" The blond then began pacing up and down the hall, his companions and the kids turning their heads from side to side as they watched him. Turning abruptly to face them, he then said "I'm afraid I'm gonna have to put you down." His head then jerked to a side. "But if I kill him, then I won't have a sidekick to do all my dirty work." His head then jerked to the other. "But it's a hero's job to rid the world of evil. I can't just let him get away with a crime!" Then again. "But who will do all the heavy lifting for me? A hero shouldn't use his strength for every challenge." And again. "But he's evil! He could try stealing the princess from me!" He paused for a moment, considering both arguments before looking directly at the group in front of him, Sharpner finally proclaiming "I have come to a decision. You are no longer my sidekick, Sidekick. You are now my arch enemy and I will have to put the hurt on you now. Feel the pain, Arch Enemy!"

A cocking sound was heard, followed by a sharp arrow being pressed into Sharpner's head, stopping him in his tracks. "Can I kill this guy already?" Erasa asked irritated. "He just wasted a full paragraph of the story and he's not even worth that many words."

"I agree with the girl," Trunks agreed. "He's annoying and a waste of a character."

"Hey! Quit trying to character assassinate me!" Sharpner shouted.

A small commotion down the hall Trunks and Goten had run through started, catching the group's attention. "Oh great, they found us," Trunks muttered. Looking at the ground, an idea suddenly sprung in his head. "Hey Goten, these guys aren't supposed to be in the castle. If we take him to the old guy, maybe those people will forget we broke that vase."

"Which one?" Goten asked. "There were a bunch of vases in that room."

"All of them."

"Good idea Trunks! Let's do that!"

The next thing Gohan knew, he was back on his feet and marching down the hallway, Videl, Erasa, and Sharpner, being shoved into his back as the two kids showed surprising strength in forcing them to where they wanted them to go. Before he knew it, he was at a familiar set of double doors, which were swung open to reveal the throne room. However, unlike the last time where only Roshi and a dancing girl had been in there, this time the room was filled with men of varying statues and dress, mostly of the wealthy kind. Most had black, spiky hair, though they each had their own unique style, excluding the couple bald ones. Expressions of anger and annoyance dominated their faces as they all glared at the sudden intrusion of the group. The only person that didn't seem angry or had black hair was Roshi, who stared at them with a blank look, though it was hard to tell what his expression was thanks to his glasses and beard.

"We have more intruders!" Trunks declared as he and Goten stopped pushing the four and moved around them, standing in front of them with their arms crossed over their chests as if they had won a prize. A few of the men rolled their eyes and looked away while a couple seemed amused by the stunt.

"So I see," Roshi commented, adjusting his dark glasses on his face. "Umm, who are these people?"

Pointing right at Gohan, Trunks said "This is the guy who tried busting that green guy. The one me and Go—" The boy came to a sudden stop as he saw a few of the other men frown slightly at him. "I mean, Goten and I caught in the dungeon."

Immediately, the group of men focused right on Roshi, who seemed to be sweating profusely. "You had not mentioned a prison escape!" one of the noblemen shouted as the others began to raise a ruckus. "Why is that criminal not in prison for that offense?"

Roshi seemed stunned by the loud onslaught for a moment before he regained his composure and raised one of his hands to quiet them down. When they didn't, he shouted "Do not make me silence you by force!"

That immediately quieted the men, though they reeked of anger. "If you will allow me, I will explain my actions," the old man said. Pausing for a moment for any objections, he then pointed to Gohan and said "That young man had presented evidence that the man we captured was not the Demon Lord Piccolo. That is why I summoned Lord Goku so he could positively identify the man. The Monkey House may hand out immediately retribution without remorse, but as the Stewart of Head House, I have an obligation to ensure I only punish guilty men."

One of the men, a man with spiky hair that stood out in all different directions—similar to Goten's, Gohan noted—stepped forward. "We apologize for our outburst," he said, his voice booming and calm. "Though why did you not lock this lad up with the Demon Lord? He has committed an offense worthy of such a punishment."

During this, Gohan felt three different hands grab onto his hair and yank him back, causing him to bend backwards as he saw livid expressions on Videl, Erasa, and Sharpner's faces—though it was odd to see them upside down. "Your friend is the Demon Lord Piccolo?" Videl hissed at him. "What do you think you're doing hanging around a guy like that?"

"He stole that kid awhile back," Erasa added in the same hissed tone. "And that has to be the Monkey House here for his head!"

"What the hell did you drag me into, Arch Enemy?" Sharpner piled on.

This time it was Gohan's turn to sweat nervously. Though he was positive that his Mr. Piccolo and the Demon Lord Piccolo weren't the same man, the looks on the three youths' faces told him that he probably should have mentioned the reason for his friend's imprisonment. "Umm…opps?"

Erasa released her hold on his hair, that same hand slapping her forehand irritably. "What a moron," she muttered.

"We're gonna have a long talk about this when this is over," Videl said to him before she too let go, leaving only Sharpner to hang on. When the blond saw that pulling the young man's hair wasn't popular at the moment, he released his hold as well, huffing as he crossed his arms over his chest. Sighing, Gohan leaned back up. For some reason, he couldn't help the feeling of impending doom.

In the meantime, Roshi waved his hand at the question. "The lad was only a companion of the prisoner, Lord Goku. Though committing a grave offense, I decided instead of letting him rot in a cell, I would send him on a quest to get…" he stopped for a moment. "That's right!" Turning to Gohan, he then said "So what pretty girls did you bring me?"

Everyone in the room sweatdropped at that—even the furniture. Taking this as his cue to speak, Gohan took a couple steps towards the dias as he held his hands towards Erasa and said nervously "I-I have brought the Princess Erasa. I hope she m-meets your specifications."

Instantly, Roshi was standing in front of the blonde, holding her hand in his as he stared right into her bosom. "Wooooo baby, I've hit the jackpot!" he declared. Looking up to Erasa—who looked sickened by the old man—he then laid on his best charm. "So Princess, how about you and I mosey on back to my room so you can meet little Roshi?"

Erasa jerked her head towards Gohan. "This is Roshi?" she nearly shrieked. "You wanted to give me to _him_?"

Already feeling Videl's heated glare on him, Gohan just chuckled nervously—after all, she had been his first choice for the role. Hopefully she would forget about it after awhile. Unfortunately, that feeling of impending doom he had felt earlier had changed into a near-certain mauling when this was all done. He really felt he needed a miracle if he was going to survive it. However, Roshi had caught sight of Videl and was suddenly at her side, one arm over her shoulder as he said "You are a looker too. What say you and the Princess join my harem? I can make it worth your while."

"Harem?" the two girls growled enraged.

"Yep and I do not let just anyone into it. Here! Try on your new clothes!" Moving his arm off of Videl, he then snapped his fingers. Instantly, both girls were in new outfits, though the clothes left very little to the imagination, particularly the chest as the only thing that covered their respective bosoms was a tight bikini top. This left everything not covered by the top bare for all to see, all except for a couple of gold bracelets around their upper arms.

Slowly, the two looked themselves over, taking in their semi-nudity and thin, transparent, baggy pants which showed their legs and undergarments. The only thing keeping those pants up were belts covered in little silver bells. Looking up to each other, the small hats on their heads keeping in place as well as the transparent veils, the two stared at each other, finding themselves in identical outfits aside from Videl's blue and Erasa's green colors.

"So what do you think?" Roshi asked, looking at them expectantly.

His response was Videl's Pervert Punisher slamming into his gut, causing him to bend over it as he let out all the air in his lungs. Next, Erasa slammed her fist into his face, sending him flying into a wall, becoming imbedded in it.

"Damn it! Why do I always end up being used as a dress-up doll?" Videl shouted, stomping her bare foot on the ground as her bell belt jingled with the action. "Is it so hard to have a simple outfit I like stay on me for longer than five chapters? Huh?"

"I want my dress back!" Erasa shouted too. "That's my favorite dress and I'll be damned if I can't have it back! You hear me pervert! If you want to keep your manparts in tact, you will put me back in my dress NOW!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" a booming voice rang throughout the room silencing everyone. The group of noblemen soon spread out, revealing a short man with spiky hair that stood straight up into the air. He had an aura about him that commanded respect and obedience upon sight. Looking at the gypsy-dressed girls, he said "What ever complaints you have with the Head Stewart will be addressed at another time. Right now, the Monkey House has the floor and it would be in your best interest _not_ to interfere with us. Now be silent or I will have one of my men silence you forever."

Gohan watched in astonishment as he saw both Videl and Erasa fall silent, even going as far as looking quite meek. Even though he knew there were people that he should never speak to—that being every person of noble birth, Videl being the lone exception, of course—he was quite surprised even these two princesses had someone they would bow down towards. It was a sight he needed to commit to memory since he was pretty sure he wouldn't be seeing this again.

"Now then, someone pry the Head Stewart off that wall so that we can get this over with," the man ordered.

Immediately, two Monkey men walked over to Roshi and pulled him out of the wall. Setting him on his feet, Roshi staggered about a few steps, trying to get his bearings as he said "Did somebody get a look at that carriage? Man was it moving fast." Looking around at the people in the room, he soon realized that this wasn't the time for silliness. Shaking himself, he straightened himself out and focused on the Monkey Lords. "Pardon me for that episode. I sometimes cannot help myself around pretty ladies. Walking back to his throne, he didn't even miss a step as he groped both princesses' bottoms as he passed them, oblivious to the sudden intake of air as the two restrained themselves from pulverizing him again. It wouldn't do to anger that Monkey Lord any more than he already was. Once he stood in front of the throne, he said "I suppose the best way to settle this matter is for Lord Goku to see the prisoner. Since he was the only man to see the kidnapper kidnapping his son, it will only take a moment for him to determine a positive or negative identification. Is this agreeable Lords Goku and Vegeta?"

The short man and the Goten look-alike man nodded their acceptance of this idea. Calling a guard, Roshi whispered to him, "Fetch the prisoner." Once the guard nodded his head, he headed off to a nearby doorway, exiting the room through it.

Turning his attention back to the four, Roshi studied them before saying "So you young ladies are sure you do not want to be in my harem."

"Positive," the two girls replied simultaneously, the same icy tone in their voices.

The old man shook his head disappointedly. "Then it would seem you failed in your quest, young man. I believe the terms were that you were to bring a willing girl to me."

"No, you said she just had to be beautiful!" Gohan protested. "You didn't say anything about her joining your harem when she got here."

"Well, if I do not get a new addition to my harem, then I say you failed!"

A frightened expression covered the young man's face. He had to convince this guy to save Mr. Piccolo! He just had to! If his offering wasn't enough, he would just have to offer him something else, but what could he offer him? Obviously the old guy wanted female companionship, and unfortunately Erasa wasn't willing to be that companion. He didn't even bother considering Videl since he was sure she would hang him by his entrails if he ever seriously considered that thought. So with the women in his company out of the question, he needed something that could help Roshi get his girl.

Hmmm…now there was a thought. It was a wild one, but it had done its job on him and Videl once. Perhaps it could work its magic here. Taking off his pack, Gohan immediately began digging into it while everyone else in the room watched him curiously. Letting out a triumphant cry, he pulled out a cup, holding high into the air. "How about I give you the Unholy Grail instead?"

A silence fell across the room before everyone—except for Videl and Gohan—simultaneously said "The Unholy what?"

Beaming, Gohan said "Yep, the Unholy Grail. A cup so mysterious, no one has ever heard of it!"

Suddenly, Videl jumped onto his arm, trying to get the grail out of his grasp. "Are you insane?" she hissed. "We can't give that pervert the grail! There's no telling what would happen if he drank from it! He could become…" she paused as a mortified expression covered her face, "…a super-pervert!"

"So let me get this straight," Roshi spoke up, eyeing the two wrestling youths. "This cup that no one's heard about can make me a 'super-pervert'? How?"

Videl shot a look at Gohan. "Don't you—" she started to say, only to be interrupted.

"All you have to do is drink from the grail and it'll make you want to have sex with the closest person," Gohan explained. Unbeknownst to him, many of the people in the room began taking steps away from Roshi, making sure they weren't the closest to him.

"Is that so? Then deal! Give me that cup!"

"No!" Videl cried out as she desperately tried to take the grail away. Gohan merely reached out with his other hand, passed the cup into it, and tossed the grail to Roshi, who caught it eagerly. "You don't know what you've done!" Videl shouted at Gohan, a mixture of fear and anger on her face. Then something else struck her and she immediately dove behind Gohan. "Stay right there," she threatened as her hands latched onto his shoulders. "There's no way I'm sleeping with that creep!"

Roshi stared at the cup in awe, holding it up to a golden light that began flowing into the room. Magically, there was some water in the cup; how it got there, no one really knew except to blame it on magic. Bringing the cup to his lips, Roshi then took a generous sip from it, lowering the cup as he allowed its affects to occur.

Nothing happened. Though it may have been because of the beard and glasses, Roshi didn't show any sign of being affected by the cup. He just stood there, staring out into space. Then he purposefully sat down on the throne and said "Guard! What is next on the agenda?"

Gohan and Videl looked at each other astounded. What was going on? Shouldn't Roshi be trying to have sex with anything that moved? He was acting as if nothing had happened instead of becoming a sexual deviant—not that he wasn't one to begin with. "Umm, sir?" Gohan spoke up hesitantly. "Are you okay?"

"Of course I am okay," Roshi said with conviction. "In fact, I have never felt better in my life! For the first time in quite some time, I feel like I can focus my attention on all of the important things. It is a refreshing feeling. Now, there is much to do and so little time to do it in."

Videl and Gohan looked back at each other again. "What the hell is going on?" Videl whispered to him. "It's like he's a completely different person. A better person."

Gohan thought about that. "Perhaps the cup does more than make people drunk?" he supposed. "Perhaps it makes you the opposite of what you are. Like that plaque said, it could make the chastest priest into a sexual deviant. Perhaps it goes the other way too."

"Maybe you're right," Videl agreed before another thought struck her. Tightening her grip on him, she then said "Someone else has drunk from the grail! Does this mean the grail will stay with Roshi?" Immediately, both of their heads whipped around to look at the grail, finding its sign with it as well. **"Don't leave me with him!"** it read, causing the two to nearly cry in relief. "It's gone," Videl almost wept. "It's finally gone!"

However, before anyone else could comment on the incidence, the double doors swung open once more, causing the Monkey House members to look at it annoyed once more, while Gohan and company looked curious. The annoyed expressions of the Monkey House immediately disappeared upon seeing a middle-aged noblewoman, who looked positively enraged. Her dark, angry eyes searched the room until they fell upon Trunks and Goten, who both looked frightened at the sight of her. "There you two are!" she shouted, causing both boys to take off running, Goten to his look-alike and Trunks to the short Monkey Lord. "Oh no, you are _not_ getting out of this one! I have searched for you all over the castle and you will be punished!"

The short man rolled his eyes, the only Monkey Lord who didn't seem the least bit frightened of the woman. "What did these two do this time?" Just the way he said that made Gohan wonder what other messes those two kids had gotten into, other than assisting in a jail break or trying to scam people for candy money. Did he even want to know the answer to that?

"They have broken nearly half the vases in this bloody castle," the woman declared, causing every noble to zero in on the boys, including Roshi and the guards. "Even the antiques! A small fortune gone because of them and who do you think is going to have to pay for it?"

Seeing movement from the corner of his eye, Gohan looked towards Roshi, who was rubbing one of his hands up and down his face. "Why is this day going more and more downhill?" he murmured to himself. Gohan couldn't help but agree with the old man. This day really was going to the dogs.

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><p>Videl and Erasa's harem girl clothes are based on the one in megaminoeien's sketch <em>DQZ Wardrobe - Page 4 <em>and on the harem girl on the _DQZ Chapter - Lineart_ Chapter Art.

To I'm a person: So you were happy and sad last chapter.

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	42. And Changing Beliefs

Gohan, Videl, Erasa, and Sharpner watched as the noblewoman stormed through the throne room, her eyes set on the young Goten and Trunks as they shook in fear by two noblemen. To be honest, neither of them blamed the two kids, they were starting to get scared too and they weren't even the targets of her anger! Truly, this woman held great power.

Unfortunately, her path to the two kids made her walk directly towards them, which put them at the focus of her attention once she reached them. "Get out of my way before I make sure you cannot move for the rest of your lives," she threatened in a deep, deathly tone. Immediately the four split to either side of her, allowing her passage through them and up to the Monkey Lords. However, she didn't start moving again due to something catching her eye.

Most specifically, Videl and Erasa's new outfits.

"Oh dear Kami, have you no shame Roshi?" she shouted. "There are children in this room and you are trying to add more of these skankish women to that disgusting harem of yours?" Turning her ire to the girls, she then said "You two should be ashamed to stoop to that level. Now leave this room and put on proper clothing before you ruin my son's innocent eyes." Whipping around, she then glared heatedly at Sharpner and Gohan. "And you two! How dare you go along with that lecher's revolting whims? You should be thrown in prison for the rest of your natural lives!"

Upon hearing this lecture, the princesses looked as if they wanted to argue with the noblewoman on her absurd assumption, yet both knew better than to do so with this woman. So instead they seethed in their transparent pants, their bosoms heaving as they attempted to calm themselves with deep breaths, though that technique didn't seem to be working too well. Sharpner, on the other hand, paled upon the threat of being thrown in jail. He was too handsome to be in jail, not too mention being someone's butt buddy! Gohan though, reacted the same way he did when ever he was confronted with a pissed off woman: he began scratching the back of his head and did his best to look apologetic. It didn't always get him off the hook, but once in awhile he did get out of trouble this way.

However, the noblewoman stared at him with a curious look in her eyes. "Have…we met before?" she asked him, studying him intently. Gohan didn't really trust himself to say anything that wouldn't send the noblewoman off her rocker so he just shook his head. He was pretty sure if he had met her before, he would definitely remember her.

The woman proved more insistent than he thought she would be. "No, no I am sure I have seen you before." Looking over towards Goten and his look-alike, she then said "Goku, come here. Tell me if you recognize this young man."

Obeying the woman, the Lord Goku walked over to him, carrying Goten as he did so and stopped right in front of him and stared. "He does seem to have Monkey characteristics," he acknowledged after a moment.

"I can see that," the woman replied, giving him an evil eye. "But that is not what I asked. What I did ask was whether this young man looked familiar to you."

"I do not really know," the Lord replied after a few awkward moments. This caused Goku to begin scratching the back of his head nervously, which caused the woman to freeze instantly.

"Goku! Stop moving!" she ordered instantly, which the Monkey Lord did without question, though he did look baffled. The woman then began looking turning her head from Goku to Gohan and back, something adding up into her head. "He looks just like you," she said softly.

Goten looked between the two of them, trying to see what the woman was getting at. Then for good measure, he began scratching the back of his own head. "Do you really think so, Mom? I thought he was just a normal peasant."

At that moment the door that Roshi's guard had left through opened, revealing the same guard, but with company. There were two more guards with him, each with a heavy chain attached to them. Between the two guards was a disheveled-looking Mr. Piccolo, who looked as if he were being inconvenienced by being brought to the throne room.

Almost immediately every Monkey Lord stared him down, each with a look of rage and hate. Though astonished to see his friend in such a state, Gohan didn't get a chance to soak in the scene as the noblewoman suddenly grabbed onto him, though her full attention was on the green man. Gohan supposed he just happened to be the closest person to the woman and she had instinctively reached out to the closest thing to her. Unfortunately, her grasp was quite strong, making it harder for him to concentrate on his friend. "Lord Goku," Roshi spoke up, causing the room's occupants to focus on him. "Is this the man that kidnapped your son?"

"Without question," Lord Goku said, his voice full of steel as one of his hands moved to clutch his side, managing to hold Goten in his other arm.

"I never thought I would see you again," Mr. Piccolo commented upon seeing the Lord Goku.

"And I believe it has been far too long since I last saw you, demon."

Mr. Piccolo lowered his head, a smirk appearing. "I don't doubt that." Then his eyes began looking about the room, falling onto Gohan. "What the? Why are you still here, Kid?"

That comment seemed to catch most of the people in the room off guard—mostly the Monkey House members. Prying himself from the noblewoman's grasp, Gohan replied cheerfully "To help you out. I just got back from this quest thing."

"Quest?"

"Yeah, the quest Roshi gave me. He said if I did it, he would let you go."

All the attention focused right on Roshi, causing him to sweat on the spot. "Did I say that?" he chuckled uneasily. "Maybe my old age is finally catching up with me."

"You were going to let this murderer go?" Lord Goku shouted, the Monkey entourage roaring in rage. "How dare you even consider such a choice!"

"Well that lad there said he was not the Piccolo you were after and I wanted to make sure," Roshi said weakly. "That is why I sent for you, to confirm the identity and in order to buy time, I sent him on an errand."

Suddenly, Gohan felt the front of his shirt being pulled, making him look right into the face of Lord Vegeta. How he had gotten there without him knowing, Gohan had no idea, but he half suspected it had something to do with his shortness. "Who exactly are you, boy?" he demanded. "How do you know this demon?"

"I raised him," Mr. Piccolo said, bringing the attention back to him. "You were looking for me by myself, so naturally it made sense to be in a group, even if it was only one other person. And I must say, it worked out fairly well."

"I was not addressing you, scum," Lord Vegeta spat. Taking a look at Gohan, he then looked back at Mr. Piccolo and said "Where did you find this runt? Is he another child you kidnapped? Or are there more?"

"I've only kidnapped one child in my lifetime, little man, and he's standing right next to you."

Gohan stared at the green man with wide eyes, not taking notice of everyone's attention falling square on him. The only thing he could think about was Mr. Piccolo's words. But not just the ones he had just said, but all of them. From being told he was given to the green man for protection to the bedtime stories to every piece of advice he had ever given, Gohan became lost in them. Ever since he and Mr. Piccolo had been separated, he had fought against every claim labeling his friend as the evil Lord Piccolo. It had blinded him to any fact that proved otherwise, but now he had no choice but to accept it, because Mr. Piccolo had admitted it. While the green man could play loose with the truth at times, he hardly ever lied and just looking at the man's face told him Mr. Piccolo was telling the whole truth.

And it was because of these thoughts that he was shocked when a loud, high-pitched cry filled the room and he was subsequently tackled by the noblewoman. Well, more like pushed back several feet, but somehow he remained standing. "My baby!" she cried, tears streaking down her face. "My baby's come home!"

Staring down at the wailing woman, Gohan almost missed Roshi speaking direction to Mr. Piccolo. "You kept the child alive? But we all thought you would have killed him."

"The thought had crossed my mind, but as I said he proved useful in keeping me alive."

For some reason, that didn't set well with Gohan. In fact, it hurt. Like a dagger being stabbed into his soft underbelly. Despite all the time they had been together, had Mr. Pic...Piccolo been using him as a tool for survival? Trying to find a way out of the woman's arms, he soon gave up and dragged her with him at least until she realized where he was going. Then she dug in her heels and stopped them from getting anywhere closer to Piccolo. "You just used me to stay alive?" he said to him, his voice cracking. "Is that why you kept me with you?"

Piccolo stared at him for a moment, then said "At first, yes. But then it changed the longer we traveled together. I have to admit, you grew on me Kid."

Gohan felt relief growing in him, enough to cause him to smile weakly. "Why didn't you tell me who I was?"

This time Piccolo snorted. "I did once. You called me crazy and started day-dreaming of what it would be like to be the stolen kid. I just let you keep thinking that."

Alright, that did sound like Piccolo. Taking a deep breath, he was about to say something he was pretty sure was important, but that ended up lost as someone else wanted to be the center of attention. "Wait a minute!" Sharpner shouted. "Are you telling me my former Sidekick, my Arch Enemy is a prince? That he's the hero of this story and _I'm_ the sidekick? No, I don't' believe it! I refuse to believe it! I can't be someone's sidekick!"

"That kid doesn't seem all there," Roshi commented, receiving many agreeing nods.

"Kid, where did you find this guy?" Piccolo asked.

"In a nearby village," the young man replied. "He's…special."

"In the head."

"Regardless, we still have some matters to attend to," Lord Goku spoke up seriously, despite Sharpner ranting in the background, conveniently distracting all the minor characters from the developing plot. "This man needs to be punished for his crime."

"Indeed," Roshi agreed. "What do you have in mind?"

Gohan glanced quickly towards the lord, the man that was supposed to be his father. Huh, that was strange. It was weird calling someone your father when you never knew them before that very day. "I request that he receive the maximum punishment."

"You mean death," the old man said.

"You can't!" Gohan protested. "He shouldn't be killed since all he did was kidnap. He shouldn't be punished for something he didn't do!"

"It's alright, Gohan," Piccolo responded, making the lad jerk his head to him. It wasn't often Piccolo called him by his name, rare in fact. And for some reason, he didn't think he was going to like what the green man was about to say. "I've always known that if I was ever caught, death would await me. There is no need to fight a losing cause."

"But it's not right!"

"So you think he should get away with kidnapping you?" Lord Goku spoke to him, the man looking directly at him. "He should get away with all the grief he has caused your mother and I? And what about Goten growing up without a brother? He took more than just you the day he left the Monkey House."

Gohan felt helpless. There wasn't any way to argue that because it was all true. Never mind that he hadn't processed these people who were supposed to be his family as family yet, but he knew he couldn't leave Piccolo to his impending fate. Something inside of him screamed that he needed to do something. "But he's my friend," the young man said. "He has been for a long time now. To be honest, I still am having a hard time wrapping my head around this whole thing. But despite what he may have done, he still raised me when he didn't have to. That has to count for something right?"

"But it should have been your parents that raised you, not this demon!"

"I guess so, but that isn't how it turned out and there is no changing that. If you want to punish him, then punish him, but don't kill him. He didn't kill me, chose not to kill me, and he's had every opportunity since to do so."

Lord Goku stopped at that part. His eyes seemed to unfocus as he lost himself in thought. For a moment, Gohan thought he had swayed the lord, that is until Roshi spoke up. "So what do you suggest then? If you had to give out punishment, what would you do?"

Upon seeing Lord Goku look at him, his wife pushing herself off of the young man to look at him better, even little Goten looking at him with wide eyes, Gohan couldn't help but bite his lip. It was a good question and he would have to answer. Looking at Piccolo, he looked into the man's eyes, his familiar poker face staring back at him, Gohan felt that what ever he said, the green man would accept whatever he said without complaint.

Taking a deep breath, Gohan opened his mouth to speak.

* * *

><p>To I'm a person: The ultimate explanation for anything illogical: magic!<p>

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	43. Their Story

Next chapter will be the last chapter of for this story. Originally this was supposed to be the last chapter, but the last scene was too good of a point to end at, especially with what I had planned.

Also, the poll I'm running on ffn and deviantart is now over. I'll post the results at the end of this chapter and let you all know what I'll be doing after the completion of this story. Thank you all who voted!

* * *

><p>Lord Goku stared out the window, eyeing the horizon. It had been a few days since that confrontation in the throne room, yet it seemed as if it had only happened a few hours ago. Nevertheless, things had been quite different.<p>

Gohan, the boy he had last seen in the arms of his kidnapper had grown up, something he had never expected. Although he had held steadfast in his refusal that he was dead until he saw a body, even he had begun to have doubts about his first-born's survival. Though it seemed perverse to him that that demon had taken on the role as father to the boy, he still couldn't help but feel thankful that he could hold his child once more, even if he was nearly a man.

Yet he knew he would never overcome his resentment of that demon. Lost time was lost time and it should have been him that watched as his son became a man, not that usurper. That feeling would most likely never go away, a festering wound that would lay dormant for awhile but would make itself known in the worst of ways.

Still, there was a bit of fatherly pride in seeing his son standing up for something he believed in, even if it wasn't something he had learned from his family. If there was something the demon had done right, it was teaching the boy to stand by his comrades through thick or thin. Though he would have preferred that occurred with a different comrade at a different time, what was done was done and he would have to move on.

Chichi seemed to have already done just that. Once the demon had been led out of the throne room, his wife had gone on and on about having Gohan back. She had hugged and kissed the boy so much that he had nearly died from suffocation. Goku felt that his wife was trying to make up for lost mothering, even if it killed the lad. A very amusing thought he would admit.

That amusement was tested the next day though when Chichi declared a celebration was in order. To proclaim the return of their son, she demanded a royal dinner and ball be conducted with all the pageantry. Fearing any sort of bodily harm if he disagreed, Roshi had agreed to let the celebration be held in the castle. That had been the last time he had actually seen Gohan. Any other time he had come to visit him, the lad had been buried beneath a mountain of clothing, so actually seeing the boy was impossible. He had heard him a few times and even once saw his head, but that had been all in the last three days.

Then there was Goten. Upon figuring out that Gohan was indeed his brother, the boy had taken up the rest of the lad's time, usually late at night. It was as if he had a new friend and Goku figured that was most likely the case. Trunks didn't seem to be all too happy about it though, mostly because Goten kept rubbing it in the lavender-haired boy's face. Kids would be kids after all.

But that still left Goku without a clue as to where his elder son fit with him. Even though he was from his loins, Gohan was a grown man nearly and that had been done without his influence. He had no idea who the lad was or what he planned on becoming. And what kind of relationship that he could have with him. It was a concern of his that had reared its head up in the last few days and he had yet to come up with a solution for it.

Behind him, the door to the room opened. However, when the door closed, it was quick and silent, almost as if someone were trying to go without notice. Frowning, Goku turned to look and find Gohan standing in front of the door, holding onto the door handle as he pressed the side of his head against the wooden surface. "What are you doing?" the lord asked puzzled.

Immediately, Gohan jumped as he whipped around to look at him, breathing out a sign of relief a moment later as he relaxed. "Thank Kami it's you. I'm sorry for disturbing you, but I'm trying to hide from the Lady Chichi."

Goku looked amused. Goten had a similar habit where he would disappear, trying to hide from his mother for some reason or another. Not once had the young boy been successful as Chichi had proven to be a skilled huntress. It was humorous to find the same trait in his other son. "I do not know if you will be successful in that endeavor, but may I ask why?"

"I just need a moment to myself is all," he answered. "Ever since I found out I was…well, you know, she's been forcing me into all of these fancy clothes and making me go through a crash course in eti…eti…proper manners. I managed to sneak away so I could at least catch my breath."

Goku nodded his head. "Then come here. At least when your mother finds you, it will look as if I had pulled you aside for a word rather than you fleeing for your life."

The young man's hand went to the back of his head, scratching it in that oh-so-familiar way. "Thank you."

When Gohan stood next to him, the two looked out the window once more, staring at the scenery. A silence fell over them, one that wasn't uncomfortable, yet it wasn't comfortable either. Awkward one could say, but not quite. Finally, Goku asked "How are you taking to all of the changes?"

"It's rough. I didn't think so much went into being a member of a house," the young man admitted. "It's nothing like what I thought it would be."

Ahh, that infamous peasant belief. Well, if there was a time for his son to have that bubble burst, now was the time. "We are of the aristocracy and there are many protocols we must undergo. Ignoring one of them could upset the wrong person. Your speech for one will need correcting."

The young man blushed. "I'm…I am trying, but it feels foreign to me."

"That is what the etiquette lessons are for, young lord: to correct such problems. It is not your fault for the way you speak, but it would be best if you spoke like your new rank."

Gohan sighed. "So I will have to be like this for the rest of my life?"

"Naturally. Do not worry, once you get the hang of it, everything else will become much easier to accept."

"But what if I don't want to be apart of it?"

Goku snapped his head over to the youth. "What? But why? I thought all commoners wished to elevate their social statuses."

"To be honest, I was happy with the way I was living my life. Yeah, there were times that were stressful, but they weren't so troublesome once I had overcome them." Gohan paused for a moment. "I have been traveling every day of my life, or close to it. I've become used to it. Staying in a room with every comfort at my beck and call is foreign to me."

"Is something displeasing you?" Goku asked, not understanding where the boy was coming from. He had just come back to his family, his real family. Was he thinking about leaving them again?

"I'm not displeased or anything. I just don't know if I can get used to this new lifestyle."

"Do you intend on leaving? After all the time you spent away from your home, do you intend on abandoning it?"

"I don't know. I mean, you are right, I did just return to you and I would love to get to know you. But I do not think all of this ball stuff the Lady…my mother has planned is for me."

"Then what is it you desire?"

Again, the lad paused, lost in thought. "I think it would be best if I went home. I have not been in the Monkey lands for…obvious reasons. I think it is time that I went to see it."

A small smile began to appear on Goku's lips. "You seem to know what you want, at least for the time being. Perhaps it would be best if you got to know your homelands. Have an adventure or two to settle yourself down."

A similar smile appeared on Gohan's face. "I think I would like that. And it would be alright if I dropped by the House's castle, yes? To see you and mom and Goten."

"Absolutely. Just find the city of Vegeta and you should not have any problem finding the castle. In fact, you and I should have an adventure together sometime soon. I would like to get to know you better."

And there it was. It seemed there could be some common ground between father and long-lost son. It would be an unusual relationship—at least in the Higher Houses—but they needed to start somewhere and this was as good as any. Only time would tell how much they could close the large gap between the two of them, but Lord Goku was determined to overcome it in what ever possible way he could. And adventuring together wasn't a bad idea.

Not a bad idea at all.

* * *

><p>Videl stared down at the bed, her eyes looking all over the blue ball dress she had laid on it. It had been several days since she had last seen Gohan and it was starting to annoy her. Yes, she understood his new family was determined to smother him with twelve years worth of affection, but she hadn't even gotten a simple hello from the young man, much less how he felt about his new life.<p>

Not a fact that she was happy with.

Once that scene in the throne room had calmed down and Gohan had talked between his parents, Roshi, and the guards, Videl had found herself herded away and given a room to stay in since she was a friend of the long-lost Monkey Lord. It also didn't hurt that she was a princess from the Satan House, but she had the feeling it was more of the Monkey House influence at work here. It was definitely the case with Erasa as the two young ladies had found themselves sharing a room. Apparently it was expected that most of the rooms in the castle would be filled to the brim with lords and ladies from the other houses to celebrate the return of Gohan, so accommodations had to be made. At least they didn't have to share a room with Sharpner. That would have been annoying.

"I didn't see this one coming," Erasa said to her, the blonde sitting on her bed and looking as if she were loving every single moment of it. In fact, she was only wearing her bathrobe as she leaned into the fluffy pillows against her headboard, though Videl was guilty of the same wardrobe. "Who would've thought Gohan was that little boy that was stolen?"

And that was another thing. After all her fretting about ill-advised relationships between people of different classes, it appeared that it had all been a waste of time. Although she had been adamant in piling all of her worries of it and her father's reaction to it in the back of her head, it had been nagging at her every so often. Now, those worries were gone, utterly destroyed by the words of a demon. Though her father still wouldn't like Gohan because he had a Y-chromosome, at least any other explosive issues weren't a cause for concern.

"I don't think anyone saw it coming Erasa," Videl replied.

"I wish I had known about it. Then I could've married him when he first came to my tower. I would've been set for life!"

Videl rolled her eyes. "Gohan didn't even know about it so I doubt he could have told you about it. So it's useless to what-if it."

"I know, I know." Looking at the dark-haired princess, Erasa raised her head up to get a better look at what the girl was focusing on. "Why do you have that pretty dress out Vi? Is something going on?"

"You do know that Gohan's mom is hosting a ball tonight, right?"

Suddenly, Erasa was off the bed, plunging into a closet full of clothes. Videl wasn't sure what they were doing there, but she assumed someone had put them in there for them to wear. It was where she had found her dress after all. "Why didn't someone tell me there was a ball?" the blonde cried out as she rifled through the clothes.

Videl tore her eyes away from her bed and looked at the frantic girl. "Erasa, it's been the buzz throughout the entire castle. The servants have been running around like headless chickens to make sure this thing goes without a hitch. How did you possibly miss all of that?"

Erasa poked her head out from between a couple of dresses, glaring at her friend. Somehow she had managed to climb into the hanging clothes as if she could gain a different perspective of each dress that way. "Well excuse me, but as a princess I make it a point not to listen to gossip from the help."

"Even so, there are plenty of lords showing up every hour talking about it." Staring at the blonde, a new suspicion grew into Videl's head. "Don't tell me you've spent all your time in this room since we were put into it."

"What does that have to do with anything? The bed is extremely comfortable and the bath is to die for. In fact, I'm pretty sure this is heaven," the blonde responded. Again, Videl rolled her eyes. This wasn't getting anywhere and the dark-haired princess had her own preparations to make.

"Awww, that's such a pretty dress," Erasa cooed from behind her, startling Videl. Whipping her head to look at the blonde, then to the closet where she swore the girl had been last, then back at her, Videl couldn't do more than to look with wide eyes, her mouth deciding not to work properly at the moment. This allowed a thought to cross the blonde girl's mind. "Wait, I don't remember seeing you ever getting ready for a ball, even that one your father let you go to as a birthday present. In fact, you had made it clear you didn't want to go."

"Well, Gohan is going to be there and we haven't seen him in a while," Videl replied.

"You're right, we haven't seen him," Erasa agreed, getting into a thoughtful stance. "But still, I don't think you would have had a dress already picked out just to run into him." The girl's eyes narrowed. "Unless there's something you're not telling me, Vi."

Videl let out a sigh. "I would have thought you would have figured this out by now. Gohan and I have been courting each other for a little while, right before we arrived at the capital."

Dead silence filled the room as Erasa stared at her with wide eyes. "So you weren't trying to sneak in while pretending to be a married couple?" she asked softly, receiving a nod in answer. Then a high-pitched squeal filled the room as the blonde glomped the princess. "Oh my Kami, Videl! This is so romantic! A princess finding love in a dirty, filthy peasant, but then when they kiss he turns into a prince! You lucky girl!" Then a sly look covered her face. "And you want to make sure he can't keep his eyes off of you at the ball, huh?"

A blush covered Videl's face. While she had to look good because of royal protocol—one simply did not go to a party and look their worst after all—she had to admit she was hoping to get the young man's attention again. And already Erasa seemed to know exactly what she was thinking and planning, and with the way the blonde was around romance, there was no way the two of them would be leaving this room without her knowing everything that had happened between the two dark-haired youths. She needed to change the subject quickly.

"Y-you know Erasa, there should be p-plenty of princes at this ball," Videl stammered out.

"Oh…my…Kami! You're so right Videl! I might even get a husband out of this thing!" Erasa exclaimed. "Hurry! You need to help me pick the perfect dress. An opportunity like this won't ever come again and I need to snag one of those guys!"

Videl let out another sigh, this time from relief. Already she could feel her nerves starting to act up from the upcoming ball and Erasa was offering an opportunity to distract her until the very last moment—or at least until she changed into her dress. With the blonde back in the cloest tossing out dresses, the princess walked towards her. Time to get distracted.

* * *

><p>To I'm a person: I guess it could be mean. I do like leaving y'all on the edge of your seats though. Keeps ya coming back for more lol.<p>

The dress Videl's looking at is the one in megaminoeien's _DQZ Ball_ fanart. At least that's the way I see it in my head. I had been hoping to use the dress at some point, but this was the best way I could get it in the story.

Poll Results:

Disasterous Space Adventures-7 votes

Confessions of a First Mate-6 votes

Finding the Good Life-6 votes

Immortal Enemies-6 votes

The Only One In Town Saloon-4 votes

A Gentleman in the Garden-3 votes

Framed-3 votes

I'm a bit surprised how this went down. In the beginning I only had ideas for Immortal Enemies and Framed, which I intend on doing both of them. Now I believe I need to come up with ideas for a few others, particularly Disasterous Space Adventures, Confessions of a First Mate, and Finding the Good Life. To be honest, I don't have much of an idea for The Only One In Town Saloon, so that one's probably going to remain as a oneshot, and A Gentleman in the Garden probably will share the same fate. Again, I'd like to thank all who voted and hopefully I'll have one of these stories out to you soon.

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


	44. Comes to an End

The room was in disarray—that is to say it was a disaster zone. Furniture was overturned, cushions scattered across the room, and fragments of expensive vases lined the edges of the floor.

And in the middle of the mess was Lady Chichi, a furious expression on her face reminiscent of a raging bull. Her maids had already fled in terror, along with the guards, spies, and possible assassins that were aiming to take her life. No one wanted to be within striking distance of the lady since they would prove to be a fatal encounter.

And the sole reason for her terrible mood was because her eldest son was missing. Again. And after all that effort she had put into organizing that ball to reintroduce him to higher society and he had the gall not to show up. At first she thought nerves were getting best of him and decided to give him a few moments to himself—after all, the upper class was filled with predators that would exploit any perceived weakness they saw. An overwhelmed teenager was a perfect striking point to twist the arm of the Monkey House. However, when the grace period she had allotted him had passed, she had sent a servant to bring the boy, only for that servant to return and tell her that her son wasn't in his room, nor in any of the corridors approaching the ballroom. At that point, Chichi had dropped any pretense of calm and went marching down the halls to hunt down her wayward son.

After thoroughly tearing the castle apart and putting it back together, it was discovered her son had ditched the party, leaving the castle sometime in the late afternoon. That had left Chichi enraged to the point that she had to leave the ball and resorted to destroying what ever innocent object she could lay her hands on. Never had she been so embarrassed in her whole life! Assuredly, all the other lords and ladies would be talking about her son's disappearing act for months, if not years to come. And the princesses! There had been so many disappointed ones with Gohan's absence and that was just another thing to anger Chichi. She couldn't play matchmaker or play the ladies off one another to create any love triangles, squares, or pentagons! Other than those serious reasons, it seemed the ball was a success from what one of her maids claimed.

Chichi hardly saw anything positive coming from this event. How could he do this to her, the mother he hadn't seen in over twelve years? Wasn't a long-lost child supposed to latch himself to his mother's bosom and refuse to leave her? Wouldn't he want to do his best to keep in her good grace in the off chance that he feared she would reject him—not that she would? She had expected to keep Gohan within her sights for the near future. Was twelve years of coddling too much to ask for?

The hinges of the door squeaked, causing Chichi to look towards the doorway, hoping to see her wayward son so she could give him an earful. Unfortunately, it was her husband that appeared in the room, causing the lady to growl. Turning attention back to the room, she looked for something else to break. The pickings were slim though considering she had already demolished most of the room's furnishings. It seemed she would have to move on to breaking people soon.

"Chichi, what is the matter?" she heard Goku ask her puzzled. "I have heard the wildest stories from the servants that you were in a fit of rage."

Oh, was that slow brain of her husband's still not working at full capasity? She would just have to show him what a "fit of rage" she was in. "I want my son found!" she yelled at the lord, not bothering to hide her anger. "I do not know where he got the idea that he could not show up at his introductory ball, but he has another thing coming if he believes so! I do not care if you have to drag him back in leg irons, I want him back _NOW_!"

The walls of the room shook from her bellow, the windows quivering almost in fright. Yet her husband just stared at her blandly, not the least affected. If she had been in her right mind, Chichi would've realized how odd that was since her husband had this instinct to cringe away from her when she was in this sort of mood. "Chichi, I believe you need to calm down. There is—"

"Calm down? _Calm down?_ How dare you tell me to calm down! Our son was just returned to us and has now left the castle without anyone knowing the wiser and your only action is to tell me to calm myself! Do not make me crack open your skull, you moron!"

That got the correct reaction when Goku winced from the threat. "Chichi, I want you to calm yourself because I know why Gohan left. Now if you—"

"You know why?" Chichi shouted, closing in on the Monkey Lord in a flash. "You must have seen him right before he left then! Why did you not stop him? How could you just left him leave when he got back? Tell me, damn it!"

A serious look covered her husband's face instead of the familiar cowering one. The next thing Chichi knew, Goku had grabbed her by her shoulders and lifted her off the ground. Moving towards a turned over chair, he used his foot to tip it back onto its legs and then sat Chichi down on it roughly. That action startled the lady from her anger as a soreness began to move through her lower body. "Chichi, be quiet," Goku said sternly, his eyes boring into hers. "Now listen and do not interrupt me. Gohan and I had a talk before the ball and he confided in me that he was overwhelmed by all that happened in the last few days. I told him that if he wished, he could take a small journey to clear his head and he accepted. Do not fret, we will see him when we return to Vegeta, alright?"

Chichi blinked her eyes. She really had no idea how to rail against the arrangement between her husband and son. Oh, her maternal instincts didn't need a reasonable excuse to do so, but the front Goku was presenting her was draining her of her anger and hurt, replacing it only with worry. Leaning into her husband's form, she then asked worriedly, "Are you sure he will come to us in Vegeta?"

A small smile appeared on Goku's face. "I am. Our son will come to us when he is ready, of that I can assure you. We believed he would not be returned to us for over a decade; at least now we know he will be back in our arms."

Chichi took in a deep breath. She liked the sound of her son coming back. She could instill proper discipline in him when he finally came to stay with them, but for now she would allow him his youthful endeavors.

But only this one time mind you.

* * *

><p>Piccolo sat in his cell, his legs crossed beneath him and his arms crossed over his chest. One of the few things he had learned to pass the time here was to mediate, something he hadn't done since the Demon House had been in existence. Raising a little boy had stopped him from that practice and he was now making up for lost time.<p>

The demon really had to hand it to his young charge though, never would he have expected such loyalty from him, especially after learning his origins. Correction, _believing_ in his origins. It was amazing what the young man chose to believe and not believe in at times that he had to wonder if there was more brain damage in his head than he let on. Still, Gohan had argued for his life to be spared and it touched Piccolo in a place he could call a heart.

He knew the Lord Goku, Lady Chichi, and the rest of the Monkey Lords weren't too pleased by one of their own protecting their swore enemy, but they would just have to deal with it. Piccolo cared not for their anger, no matter how righteous it was. The only Monkey he had any concern for was Gohan.

And what a young man he had turned out to be. Though his parenting skills were lacking, Piccolo hardly believed that the young man he had nurtured had matured into such a man of conviction. Though being in prison wasn't his first choice, the young man had been the only reason as to why his head wasn't on the chopping block now. And for all the wrong he had done to the lad, he could deal with his sentence. Twelve years, the amount of time he had been gone from the arms of his parents. It was fitting, Piccolo had to admit.

It also seemed Gohan held no ill will towards him either. Somewhere between being bombarded by the upper class' need to decorate him to fit in with them, he had managed to sneak down to the dungeon for them to talk. The young man had even expressed an eagerness for them to meet up once more, not something Piccolo had expected. Things would be different naturally, but at least they would be able to see each other as man-to-man, rather than man-to-boy. And Piccolo acknowledged that he too was anticipating such a meeting.

But until then, he had a couple of guests he would have go deal with and hopefully they wouldn't drive him too crazy.

"So why is your skin so green? Is it because you were in the sun too long? Can I be as green as you someday?" Trunks asked him from the other side of the prison bars.

"You've got some funny-looking ears too," Goten added. "Do they give you super-hearing or can you not hear anything at all? I think you can't hear anything with them cause you don't talk to me and Trunks and we ask you all of these questions."

Why these two little brats thought he was the person to annoy out of everyone in this bloody castle, he had no clue, but he was positive that they were the Monkey's last-ditch effort to make him suffer. Why else would these half-pints come visit him every single day and talk about such tedious things? One of these days he was going to tear his ears off and save himself from their inane chatter, though knowing these two they would poke and prod his bloodied ears and think it was extraordinary.

"Hey, did you hear about my big brother not showing up for the ball? My mom was so mad with him."

Oh? What was this? "Gohan was a no-show to his coming-out party?" the demon asked the two, startling them with his deep voice.

"Whoa Goten, he talked to us," Trunks said in awe. "That's so awesome!"

"Yeah! I thought only Gohan could make him talk!" Goten added.

Piccolo wanted to beat his head into a wall so badly, he almost didn't manage to resist the urge. Ignoring the two brats, he concentrated on their little gossip. So his protégé had ditched all of the ceremonies and formalities he would have to go through. The very thought pleased the demon greatly. Whether he knew it or not, the young man had given him a nice going-away present in the form of an embarrassed Monkey House. Truly, he was a child after his own heart.

All three of them.

* * *

><p>Gohan stood by a large oak tree, rubbing a towel all over his body, drying off all the water that had clung to him from his dip in a nearby pond. He had to admit it was a good idea to filch a couple of towels from the castle when he was packing. It made drying off so much easier.<p>

And speaking to his father, Lord Goku, had made the decision to leave so much easier. Gohan had felt like he had been backed into a corner by all the things he had been put through in the last few days, so when his father had made him that offer, he had jumped at it like a thirsty man in a desert. It felt good to be back on the road too. It was almost like everything had gone back to the way it used to be.

At this, the young man sighed. He had been so sure he could have gotten Piccolo out of jail when he had gotten back, but he had done a complete reversal and locked him up. It was a bit of relief that the green man hadn't held it against him, and he was glad that he managed to persuade those blood-thirsty Monkey Lords not to kill Piccolo, but he still felt bad that he had made the call to imprison him. Sometimes being in the role of a judge was not all it was cracked up to be.

So with his pass to leave, a quick raid in the kitchen, and all he needed packed away, he snuck out through a servants' passage and was a free man. He was sure his mother would be crossed with his decision, but he was counting on Lord Goku to handle that aspect.

However, he was disappointed in not being able to say good-bye to anyone, particularly Videl, Erasa, and Sharpner. The way he saw it, the three were back in their natural environment, or in one they were desperate to get into. He knew that Erasa's need to capture the eye of a prince would have kept her at the castle for as long as possible, and Videl would have to be reacquainted with her kinsmen now that she was back amongst the upper class. Sharpner, however, had been trouble tracking down. Apparently the blond was holding out for someone to appreciate his greatness and wanted a statue commemorated in his honor. Then he had demanded some "babes to satisfy his every hero desire" or something like that. Whether he was successful in his endeavors, Gohan didn't know, but he was quite sure that Sharpner was too occupied at the moment.

Finishing his drying, Gohan then wrapped the towel around his waist, turning his attention to his neatly stacked clothes. It was about time he got back on the road and his newest journ—

A clicking sound occurred behind him, followed by a deepened voice saying "Don't move a muscle." Freezing instantly, Gohan eyes widened. Was he being robbed? Already? And this journey was starting out so well too! He didn't even have Sharpner to blame for this one!

"Now, put your hands into the air," the voice demanded.

At that Gohan stiffened. This just couldn't end well. The only thing he had on was the towel and if he put his hands into the air, there would be nothing keeping that towel on him. Maybe he could try reasoning with this guy, surely he would understand the situation if he explained it. "I-I'm sorry, but if I r-raise my hands, m-my towel will fall and I-I'll be naked."

"I _said_ raise them."

Well, there went reasoning out the window. Reluctantly, Gohan raised his hands into the air, feeling his towel predictably falling to the ground and pooling at his feet. The young man's face went completely red at his situation. This just couldn't end well.

"Now turn around." What? What kind of guy was this? Why would he want a naked young man to turn around and show him parts that no other man would want to see? Unless…unless he was interested in that sort of thing…

Gulping, Gohan really hoped his imagination was running too wild. Maybe nothing would happen, except being robbed and possibly tied to a tree. Yeah, that probably would be what would happen. Of course, that was the best case situation. Ugh.

Closing his eyes tightly, Gohan slowly turned around, holding himself stiffly. For several moments, he didn't hear a thing as he stood there in his embarrassment. He really didn't want to see the look on the other guy's face at the moment, especially if it confirmed his wildest thoughts. However, when nothing happened, the young man couldn't help but crack one of his eyes open to see what the robber was doing.

Instead of finding a wicked-looking man, he saw Videl standing there in her peasant clothes, a crossbow in her hands and an amused look on her face. Her blue eyes were laughing at him openly, as if this whole thing was one big joke. "Vi-Videl?" Gohan stuttered out, his face becoming even reader than before.

"You're a hard guy to follow, you know that Gohan?" the princess told him, her voice returning to normal as she shifted the weight of the crossbow in her hands. "I had to ask half of the people in the capital if they knew which way you went."

Moving one of his raised hands to the back of his head, he began scratching it sheepishly. "Umm, sorry about that—"

"Keep your hands up," Videl interrupted, causing Gohan to shoot his hand back up, unconsciously trying to raise them higher. "You mind telling me why you just left without telling anyone? Without telling me? You do know you caused a ruckus at the castle when you didn't show up."

"I did?" Gohan answered uneasily. "Well, I didn't mean to do that. I was just overwhelmed with everything up there that I wanted to get out of there. I figured you and Erasa would be busy mingling with the people there to notice me not being there."

Videl's eyes narrowed. "You know, I went through a lot of preparation to see you at that ball. Erasa even helped me out some when she wasn't worried about her own preparations. Imagine how I felt when you weren't anywhere in sight. It's not very often I get all dressed up for someone else. I think the only person that was more livid than I was, was your mother."

Gohan gulped. "Y-you don't say?" he asked nervously

"Oh yeah. Last I heard she had destroyed the rooms she and Lord Goku were staying in. I suppose she was also someone you didn't tell about your sudden urge to globetrot." She bowed her head down a bit, some of her hair falling in front of her face, hiding her. "You know, if you had just asked, I would have come with you."

It seemed Gohan had done a disservice to the girl in front of him. It made him feel bad looking at her downcast look. "I guess I should've known better."

"Yeah, you should have."

"Is there anyway I can make it up to you?"

Her head tilted up, some of her hair falling out of the way of her face to reveal a small smile. Her eyes looked him over before she said "I think we can work something out."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Just use your imagination. I'm sure you'll figure it out."

* * *

><p>To the0blind0writer: Stories fly when you're having fun.<p>

This isn't the first time I've had Gohan leave a place without a word. Battle Stain was the first, though this time Videl caught up to him quicker than that time, and at a much better point in time than that one lol.

And with that, Dragon Quest Z is finished. This has been a long, enjoyable ride and I'm glad Ms. Videl Son convinced and helped me write this out. Without her, this never would have been done and I thank her for that.

And a big thank to all who have read and thoroughly enjoyed this story. I've been blown away with your reception to this story and I'm very thankful for that. A special shout-out to all who reviwed this story as well. Your reviews, comments, and critiques have been a joy to read over and reply to. I thank you all.

Until next time,

ShadowMajin

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.


End file.
